Leipzig Festival of Lights 2024

The evening began on Augustusplatz with brief welcome addresses by Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung and by contemporary witnesses as well as representatives of the federal and state governments, including Olaf Scholz, Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Elke Urban, civil rights activist in the former GDR, and Michael Kretschmer, Minister-President of the Free State of Saxony.

The huge candle platform with the lettering Leipzig 89, traditionally filled with thousands of lights by visitors, was located on Augustusplatz in the anniversary year.

The opening was framed musically by the Saxon Wind Philharmonic under the direction of Peter Sommerer. Works by Beethoven, Dvořák and Rheinberger were performed.

The Saxon Wind Philharmonic impresses its audience with an extraordinary variety of sound. Among the 129 German concert and theatre orchestras, it is the only ensemble in symphonic wind instrumentation, giving it a unique position. With the OPUS Klassik award as “Ensemble of the Year 2023”, its exceptional artistic quality at a high level received international recognition.