Resounding success for Zaragoza Luce, which is already looking ahead to its next edition

The thousands of people who have walked through the streets of the Aragonese capital this weekend suggested that the Zaragoza Luce festival was a great success. In fact, the participation figures have only confirmed this. In total, 278,000 people have passed by one of the eight luminous sculptures proposed in the first edition of this event. It is not surprising, therefore, that Zaragoza is already looking towards a second edition.

The Mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca, has highlighted that the event has been a “huge success” and has allowed the people of Zaragoza to enjoy the city’s historical heritage: “I am very satisfied. This project has a personal objective, which is to increase the pride that the people of Zaragoza have for their city and Zaragoza Luce has allowed them to appreciate the historical heritage they have with new eyes,” she said. 

The squares and some of the most representative monuments, with the Plaza del Pilar as the heart of culture, have become the stage for top-level artistic creations thanks to the careful selection of professionals from the city, from other parts of Spain and from Europe who have participated in this first edition organized by the Zaragoza City Council, curated by Antídoto and sponsored by Iberdrola and the Government of Aragon.

The appearance of the streets and squares around Plaza del Pilar during the first hours of Zaragoza Luce 2025 already predicted that the attendance figures were going to be exceptional. For 16 hours, spread from Friday to Sunday, the artistic interventions have generated, according to the estimates of Zaragoza City Council and the organizers, around 278,000 spectators who have passed through the different urban spaces of the historic center.

On Friday, some 55,000 people visited this large open-air contemporary museum, on Saturday this figure tripled to 165,000 and on Sunday, with fewer exhibition hours, some 58,000 visitors were reached. In addition, Zaragoza City Council has once again confirmed the exemplary participation of the public, who have enjoyed culture in the streets without incident, thanks also to the coordination of the different municipal areas.

The guided tours offered by the council have become another successful element, after having sold out all the places, the initial 150 and the subsequent reinforcement of another 150 to make a tour of the eight Festival sites. The three days have served to significantly boost the hospitality industry and local commerce in the area on a weekend that was located at a low time of the calendar.

Specifically, the economic impact of the weekend in the city of people who stayed overnight has reached 4,000,000 euros, driven by an increase in hotel occupancy of around 20%, for a total of approximately 70%. To this we must also add the spending made by the 278,000 festival-goers.

NEXT EDITION

The elements that have defined this great cultural event, its popular character, the international creators, its presence in the street with valuable heritage settings and, now also, its attendance figures and the organisational success have led to great interest within the international circuit of light events. In fact, the Zaragoza City Council has confirmed that numerous national and international artists have asked the organisation about holding future editions. In addition to the artistic component, the organisational component also has the willingness of entities and brands to be part of the upcoming Zaragoza Luce.

After its premiere, this festival will continue to grow and incorporate updates so that Zaragozans and visitors can enjoy the best lighting installations in their streets. At the same time, the council firmly maintains a line of work to continue positioning the city as a benchmark for culture and tourism, where proposals of all kinds take place under the premise of making them accessible to all citizens.

DIGITAL RESOURCES

The artistic interventions of Zaragoza Luce have been complemented by a series of tools to provide information to citizens who have visited this festival. The proposal of interactive maps through a 3D digital twin of the Old Town received 20,500 visits to help them navigate between the different works of art. In addition to the map, each intervention had a QR code that gave access to a bilingual audio guide.

95% of those who used it did so in Spanish and 5% in English. According to data recorded by Zaragoza City Council, 92% consulted it via mobile phone.