Light truly brings people together, as demonstrated by GLOW 2023. And this time, not only in Eindhoven but also in Geldrop, Mierlo, Waalre, Oirschot, and Best. Along the GLOW route, stories of the city and its residents are told through light, creating a sense of togetherness among people of different ages and backgrounds. Although the organizers of GLOW do not count the number of visitors, it is said to be the busiest edition to date.

GLOW is for everyone, and everyone is GLOW.

At the opening of GLOW on Saturday evening, it quickly became apparent that enjoying GLOW together is still immensely popular. On Emmasingel, the countdown was done collectively, after which Mayor Dijsselbloem officially opened the event amidst the crowd.

Festival director Ronald Ramakers says, “The vision of GLOW is light art for everyone, and everyone is an artist. The fact that all these people from all those neighborhoods, villages, and cities, with all those different backgrounds, come together for GLOW is exactly what GLOW should be. That’s how all visitors together create GLOW. You can see it in the light art installations, such as the children’s project in DOMUS DELA, in the abundance of interactive works, but also during Diwali, where we celebrated the Festival of Lights with the Indian community.”

This year also saw a significant number of hospitality entrepreneurs actively contributing to making GLOW extra enjoyable. The number of GLOW Hosts has more than doubled compared to last year, enhancing the overall festival experience. There was ample opportunity for food and drinks.

A beacon in the region.

The GLOW projects in Geldrop, Mierlo, Waalre, Oirschot, and Best attracted a lot of attention and were well-received by both the municipalities and the GLOW organization. The ambition of GLOW is to expand this further in the coming years. Ramakers says, “In this way, we no longer talk about ‘the region’ and ‘the city,’ but simply about Best, Mierlo, Geldrop, Oirschot, Waalre, and Eindhoven. Then we are one, that’s what light does.”

One of the most remarkable projects may have been the most powerful laser in the world, visible every night from 22:30 and closing GLOW at 23:00 for everyone in the region. Photos of the laser, visible up to 80 kilometers away, reached far into Gelderland, Limburg, and Belgium and even made it to the NOS Jeugdjournaal.

Other significant crowd-pullers included the “Evolution of Life” on Emmasingel, the singing portraits of Grand Mix on Wilhelminaplein, and the impressive children’s project “I Spy” in DOMUS DELA.

Note for the editors

• Press images can be downloaded with attribution at: https://gloweindhoven.nl/persinformatie/
• For additional questions, email: pers@gloweindhoven.nl or call Ralf van Lieshout at 06 3191 6386.
• GLOW does not disclose visitor numbers because they cannot be accurately determined. Observations suggest it was the busiest edition to date.