Short answer: if you are planning a 2026 trip around Circle of Light (Круг света), don't. The festival has not been staged since 2018, and no 2026 edition has been announced by anyone. This page used to say otherwise; that was wrong, and the correction is below.
What Circle of Light was
Circle of Light was Moscow's international festival of light art. For several evenings each autumn, projection mapping turned landmark facades, parks and embankments into giant screens, accompanied by walk-through installations and an international video-mapping competition called ART VISION. Watching was free, and the scale was genuinely large.
The last full edition was in September 2018
The eighth festival ran from 21 to 25 September 2018 across seven venues: the Rowing Canal in Krylatskoye, Tsaritsyno Park, Teatralnaya Square, the Victory Museum on Poklonnaya Hill, Kolomenskoye Park, the Mir concert hall and the Digital October centre. Shows ran nightly from 19:30 to 23:00, and the organisers' closing report put attendance at four million people.
That closing report is dated 26 September 2018 — and on the festival's own website it is still the most recent report of an actual festival.
What has happened since
The brand has not vanished completely. In May 2025 the organisers staged a light-projection programme for the eightieth anniversary of Victory Day, at Teatralnaya Square, Belorussky railway station and the Polytechnic Museum. That is the newest entry in the news feed at lightfest.ru — a one-off event rather than the return of the festival.
Between September 2018 and May 2025 the site published nothing at all. No dates, venues or programme for a 2026 edition exist.
⚠️ Be careful with what you read elsewhere. Plenty of travel pages still describe Circle of Light in the present tense and promise "2026 dates to be announced". Checked on 13 August 2026, there is nothing behind those promises.
Why this matters if you are planning a trip
The practical consequence is simple: do not build an autumn trip around this festival, and do not pay anyone for tickets or tours that claim access to it. There is no event to get into, and admission to the original festival was free anyway.
What to see instead
Moscow after dark still rewards the effort, just without a single headline event:
- The river at night. Year-round boats run past the illuminated embankments and the Kremlin — see our guide to Moscow boat trips.
- An evening walk through the centre. Teatralnaya Square, Nikolskaya Street and the Zaryadye park area are lit every night of the year, no festival required.
- A short visit with limited time. If you only have one evening, our one day in Moscow route covers the illuminated landmarks in walking order.
Moving between spread-out venues late at night is where an evening in Moscow usually goes wrong. A pre-booked transfer avoids it — you can arrange one via GetTransfer.
Frequently asked questions
When is Circle of Light 2026?
There is no Circle of Light 2026. No dates have been announced, and the festival has not been held since 2018.
Was the festival cancelled?
No cancellation was ever formally announced — the festival simply stopped taking place after the 2018 edition, and the organisers' site went quiet until a one-off Victory Day programme in May 2025.
Will it come back?
Nobody has said so. The organisers still run occasional light programmes, so a return is not impossible, but as of August 2026 there is no announcement of one.
Was it free?
Yes. All the open-air facade shows and installations were free to watch, with no ticket needed. Anyone selling you a ticket to Circle of Light today is selling you nothing.
What was ART VISION?
An international video-mapping competition held as part of the festival, in which studios from different countries submitted projection works judged by an international jury.
