Instead of taking place with tens of thousands of visitors on Augustusplatz, the Leipzig Festival of Lights 2020 was held on a smaller scale at St Nicolas Church Yard. Emotional messages from the people of Leipzig were projected on a large scale onto the surrounding buildings. Leipzig trombone choirs provided the musical accompaniment for the evening.
On the way to the Leipzig Festival of Lights: On 28 September 2020, the series made a stop at the shared accommodation for refugees in Leipzig-Connewitz: presenter Claudius Nießen welcomed former GDR civil rights activist Gisela Kallenbach. The programme also featured the dance company human moves.
“Unity and justice and freedom” – the poetry slammers from Livelryx made direct reference to the motto of the 2020 Festival of Lights during the Festival of Lights visit on 14 September 2020 at the police academy on the premises of the Bereitschaftspolizei. Stephan Bickhardt, pastor and one of the protagonists of the Peaceful Revolution, answered questions from presenter Claudius Nießen at the beginning of the event. Musical accompaniment: Katharina Hesse, horn.
Telling a story with sand – Sandtheater Leipzig does this masterfully, and did so on 14 September 2020 in front of the children’s hospital at St. Georg. At the second preliminary event on the way to the 2020 Festival of Lights, civil rights activist Brigitte Moritz spoke. Music was performed by Annegret Enderle (violin).
On 7 September 2020, the Festival of Lights was hosted by the Plagwitz senior citizens’ home. Rolf Sprink, a civil rights activist in the former GDR, gave a speech. The Volkschor Klinga e.V. opened the evening with music, and the Leipzig vocal quintet “Ensemble Nobiles” performed on the White Elster.
