Sound, Light, and Beauty

All around the globe, light brings awe and wonder to crowds through visual storytelling. The modern tradition of son et lumière shows started in France when Paul Robert-Houdin created a “sound and light” show in 1952 at the Château de Chambord. The performance used music and narration while colored lights were projected onto the 16th-century palace. Digital innovations have since improved the quality of light shows, which have spread in popularity around the globe, especially at iconic historic sites. With 3-D video mapping, moving images are projected onto historic structures and onto fountains that come to life with technicolored displays of light glowing on jets of water. Flocks of drones are used to illuminate the sky without the environmental harm of fireworks. 

Many of these luminescence experiences are educational and tell the destination’s story through images and light. Here are some of the best light shows to experience around the world. 

Circuito Mágico del Agua, Lima, Peru

Located in the open-air Parque de la Reserva, the Circuito Mágico del Agua is a series of 13 dazzling illuminated fountains that made the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest water-fountain complex in a public park. The water used for the fountains is recycled and there are also installations within the park that cover water-related issues. Some of the fountains are interactive and encourage child-like joy with experiences such as walking through a tunnel of rainbow-hued water.

The nightly light show takes place on the 130-yard-long Fuente de la Fantasía. The fountain’s water is used as a screen for a choreographed show of water, music, and video mapping, including images and sounds of cultural importance in Peru, such as the country’s strife with Spanish colonizers and the indigenous heroes who tried to protect their land.

Serefiye Cistern, Istanbul, Turkey

The 1,600-year-old cistern is a grand spectacle to see in its own right, as the ancient structure was a water-storage facility in which most of the water was reserved for bathhouses. The Serefiye Cistern is one the oldest buildings in the world to undergo 360-degree 3D video mapping and was the first museum in Turkey to be brought to life with an audiovisual show. The mesmerizing light display intersects art and technology by using projection mapping and a light display to bring the cistern’s walls and 32 columns to life with the stories of Turkey’s history projected onto the historic structure.

Font Màgica de Montjuïc in Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona’s biggest ornamental fountain, Font Màgica de Montjuïc (meaning “the Magic Fountain”), was built for .…

By Lola Méndez

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