In a statement sent to MTI by the organizer Zsolnay Heritage Management Foundation, they wrote that the light festival, held between July 3 and 6, has long been about more than just light paintings and light installations. 

Spectacular street theater productions, new circus acts, pulsating rhythms, and exciting light-inspired creative workshops await visitors in the city center this year.

As the festival's opening act, the Spanish percussion group Brincadeira will set the mood with a thumping rhythm and energy on Thursday and Friday at Széchenyi Square. Their performance is not only a musical but also a visual experience - they will entertain the audience with both exciting choreography and dynamic light effects. 

On Saturday, the Solar Eclipse team will dazzle the audience with a special LED show - a meeting of lights, dance and dynamics in a sweeping, modern performance.

On Sunday, Mexican Alkimia's production combines fire and LED elements, while also drawing on ritual movement culture and symbol systems. The performance is both fiery ceremony and contemporary circus art: a hypnotic blend of body, light and fire.
 

Duo Laos from Argentina presents a passionate blend of partner acrobatics, tango, humor and ballet. Muraya Polip's production Mama is both entertaining and thought-provoking about the challenges of motherhood, spiced with humor and irony. Spain's Nacho Rey presents a sensitive, acrobatic performance about empathy, forgotten dignity and people living on the margins of society.

The Barbican moat will be a scene of "fiery experiences", where fire jugglers and acrobats will dazzle the audience in the Ember Nest.

At the Fénybütyköldé, visitors can experiment with different artistic approaches and creative uses of light, whether it's henna, cyanotype, silk painting or even making their own luminous origami. From luminous beetles to decorative stained glass windows, they can create many wonders with the help of professional guides at a total of 4 locations.

The festival's music program is also characterized by variety and dynamics. The downtown clubs offer exciting treats every day, and the musical highlight of the festival will be the Flipside Tettye Open Air event with the performance of Óperentzia and Balázs Zságer on Saturday night at Tettye Katlan.

The usual elements will remain this year: the Zsolnay Light Art light painting competition will be held, in which animations will be projected onto the facade of the Pécs Cathedral. This year, Hungarian, Czech, Polish and Bulgarian artists will compete, reflecting on the no//body slogan with their works.

This year, visitors can explore the sights of downtown Pécs by walking the Path of Light. As part of this, a love story will come to life on the facade of the city's oldest residential building in the animation of Italian video mapping artist Francesca Maccio.

On Színház Square, the Swiss Encor Studio will transform a shipping container into a light box, while the Fényszórók team will create a panoramic projection on Széchenyi Square. This year's Light Carpet on Janus Pannonius Street will be created by the Budapest graphic and design studio Anuri. The Spanish Javier Riera will project geometric shapes in the Cella Septichora.

In the Nádor Gallery, Koros Design's giant head installation explores the question of how robots will be able to imitate human facial expressions with the help of artificial intelligence, while Filip Roca and Zarko Komar's Stardust installation will be visible both during the day and at night on the giant LED display set up in the Árkád shopping center.

At the Zsolnay Light Festival this year, the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter will become a standalone, all-night attraction, where visitors can explore the secret paths of an enchanted garden of light. In the quarter’s E78 concert hall, Balázs Varga will create his audiovisual installation Center Point using laser beams and robot lights. 

Light installations by young talents from PTE and MOME, a spectacular light carpet, video mapping venue, dome projection and sculptures brought to life with light make the quarter one of the most magical venues of the festival.

The Kodály Center will host two monumental installations this year: 

In Vince Varga and his team's work The Torches Are Already Burning, the mythical story of the boys who became deer comes to life in a grandiose, immersive installation. During the virtual journey set in the tulle forest that grew on the stage of the concert hall, the dense forests of Mecsek and the familiar spaces of Pécs come to life. 

This venue will also host a site-specific installation Analemma by the Japanese artist Csida Yasuhiro, which builds a calm, meditative space from fine threads and light.

The festival programs and the attractions presented in the public spaces of the Path of Light can be visited for free, while those in closed spaces can be visited by purchasing a wristband; these are the Path of Light Extra locations.

Further information about the 9th Zsolnay Light Festival, supported by the National Cultural Fund, can be found on the event's website:  www.fenyfesztival.hu