Festival of Celestial Lights

Festival of Celestial Lights: The luminous magic at the Château de Selles-sur-Cher

The Festival of Celestial Lights transforms the magnificent park of the Château de Selles-sur-Cher into an enchanting route of monumental light sculptures every winter. This spectacular event, unique in the Centre-Val de Loire region, offers a nighttime immersion into a world of light, color, and poetry that delights both young and old.

Giant Sculptures from Zigong

The light sculptures for the Festival of Celestial Lights are made in Zigong, in China's Sichuan province, considered the world capital of lantern festivals. Each edition involves a team of 80 Chinese artisans who spend over 50 days designing the sculptures. These are then shipped in 18 containers after a 40-day sea voyage, representing over 50 tons of metal structures, 35,000 meters of colored fabric, and tens of thousands of LEDs.

Spectacular Dimensions

The sculptures reach impressive dimensions: up to 12 meters in height and 35 meters in width. Spread across 5 hectares of the castle park, they form an immersive path where visitors wander among sacred temples, dragons, pagodas, marine creatures, and fantastical landscapes, all illuminated by over 100,000 LEDs.

A Renewed Theme Each Edition

Each season, the Festival of Celestial Lights reinvents itself around a new theme. The first edition celebrated Imperial China with its temples, traditional lanterns, and mythological creatures. A later edition highlighted the Extraordinary Voyages of Jules Verne, with universes such as *The Mysterious Island*, *Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas*, *From the Earth to the Moon*, and *Around the World in Eighty Days*.

Live Performances and Entertainment

Beyond the light trail, the festival offers live performances throughout the evening: mask-changing (bian lian) demonstrations, acrobatic and juggling acts, martial arts performances, and traditional Chinese dance. Chinese artisans specially from Zigong share their know-how with the public, including lantern making and paper cutting arts.

The Château de Selles-sur-Cher, Ideal Setting

The Château de Selles-sur-Cher, a historical monument from the 13th and 17th centuries, provides an exceptional setting for the festival. Its vast wooded park, crossed by the Cher river, allows for spectacular scenography where the reflections of the sculptures blend with water and vegetation. Located just 15 minutes from the Beauval ZooParc, the festival is an ideal complement for tourists staying in the Cher Valley.