Credit: Ville de Luxembourg
With the Christmas season fast approaching, Ville de Luxembourg has revealed its Winterlights 2017 programme full of events set to bring festive magic to the capital this winter.
From 22 November 2017 until January 2018, the Winterlights will plunge the heart of the city into a winter wonderland with its thousand and one lights, Christmas markets spread across the capital, concerts, exhibitions, shows and entertainment for children. Luxembourg City will be lit up every day from next Wednesday between 06:00 and 01:00.
This year, the Winterlights programme will be introducing 375 new decorations and lights to create a more festive atmosphere, including a waterfall animation in the Rue des Capucins and 3D stars in Boulevard Roosevelt. This brings the total number of illuminations in the capital, which all use low-energy bulbs, to 900 this Christmas season.
The annual Christmas markets at Place d'Armes and Place de la Constitution will open the day after the beginning of Winterlights, from 23 November to 24 December, Sunday-Thursday from 11:00-21:00 and Friday-Saturday from 11:00-22:00. On 24 December 2017, the markets will close at 17:00. As in previous years, the Place de la Constitution will be home to a large LED ferris wheel to set the scene for the Christmas market’s 135 stalls offering culinary specialties, mulled wine, crafts and toys as well as various attractions. One new addition to this market will be the "My beautiful fir" carousel, which as the name suggests is shaped like a fir tree, and the ride can accommodate between 32 and
At the Place d'Armes Christmas market, a 12-metre-high fir will welcome visitors who can shelter from the cold or rain under a newly-installed roof whilst enjoying their festive dishes. A new carousel, "Chahut des contées", representing characters from the Brothers Grimm fairy tales should also keep the little ones amused. Additionally, the Jan Palach Square will host, for the first time, a magical forest with decorated fir trees, allowing families to discover magical characters during their walk among the trees.
The Winterlights programme also includes a series of creative parent-child workshops taking place at the Kanner-Elteren-Centre stall in front of the Cercle Cité on afternoons and all day on Saturdays from 23 November to 23 December 2017. Most of the workshops will be held in Luxembourgish, but translations into French, German or English can be requested. The Cité Bibliothèque will also offer entertainment at the stall in front of the Kanner-Elteren-Centre on 25 November and 9 and 23 December.
The "Knuedler on Ice" rink is also set to return to Place Guillaume II and will be installed from 22 November 2017 to 7 January 2018 in front of the Town Hall. This year, a secure surface of about 100m2 will be reserved for toddlers. Throughout the duration of "Knuedler on Ice", the LCTO has planned a series of free animations on the square, including balloon sculpting, a skating instructor, musical entertainment with a DJ and figure skating shows. The rink will be open Sunday - Thursday from 11:00-21:00 and Friday and Saturday from 11:00-23:00 with exceptional opening on 24 December from 11:00-17:00 and a special "New Year's Eve" evening planned between 20:00 and 02:00. For more information: www.knuedleronice.lu.
