Glow Nanshan: Redefining Shenzhen's city identity

In November 2025, Shenzhen welcomed the return of its annual light art festival — Glow Shenzhen. Launched in 2020, the event has since evolved into one of the city’s signature nighttime cultural brands and an important window through which Shenzhen showcases its soft power to the world.

This year, Nanshan District has served as the festival's main venue, accompanying citizens through a warm winter season. Under the theme “Pursue the Light, Innovate Nanshan,” Glow Shenzhen 2025 – Nanshan District Main Venue (Glow Nanshan) has transformed the district’s urban space into a boundless “theater of light.” 

Featuring more than 50 light art installations, the main venue has not only reimagined the cityscape, but also explored future possibilities for interaction between technology, art, and human experience through the interplay of light and shadow.

As March 3 approaches, this cross-border urban spectacle of light that blends cutting-edge technology with local culture is drawing to a close. Before the lights fade, we seek to decode the Shenzhen narrative embedded in this international experiment in light art.

A Global "Circle of Light" 

PART 01

As the main venue of Glow Shenzhen 2025, Nanshan’s appeal lies first in the global arena of artistic dialogue it has created — one that transcends geographic boundaries.

International artists

Artists from China, France, the United Kingdom, Australia and beyond have treated Nanshan’s urban space as an experimental ground. This multinational participation not only brings diverse aesthetic perspectives, but also positions Nanshan as a frontier node in the global exchange of light art.

Multiple world premieres

Glow Nanshan has presented several highly anticipated world premieres. 

"Island of Light," created by renowned lighting designer Lu Zhen, showcases the expressive power of masterful visual storytelling. 

"COSMO," by the U.K.-based Heyl & Van Dam Studio, explores the rhythms of life in the post-industrial era through a fusion of mechanical aesthetics and lighting algorithms. 

The debut of such works signals Shenzhen’s transformation from an importer of art into a source of global creative production.

An audience without borders

Along the shores of Shenzhen Bay, this global dimension extends beyond the creators themselves. Strolling through the exhibition, one encounters international entrepreneurs building businesses in Nanshan, global families introducing their children to the power of technology, and art lovers coming from Hong Kong, Macao, and beyond. In the interplay of light and shadow, Nanshan’s appeal as an global community becomes vividly clear.

Local Interpretation within Global Exchange 

PART 02

If international vision defines the festival’s breadth, then its deep cultural transposition forms its soul.

Global linkages of light

Through exchanges with leading light festivals around the world, Glow Nanshan brings the essence of major international showcases to local audiences. "Anooki: Les Rêveurs" and "Anooki: Les Complices" from the Lyon Festival of Lights, "The Light Within" from the Singapore Light Festival, "Starlight" from the Shanghai International Light Festival, and "First Year in the World," whose sister work has appeared at the Berlin Festival of Lights, together create Nanshan’s most vibrant, multicultural nightscape.

Illuminating local culture

While pursuing international dialogue, Glow Nanshan remains deeply rooted in local culture.

"A Myriad of Lights" draws upon the Guangdong folk tradition of “Cai Qing,” reinterpreting the classic Lingnan architectural motif of the Manchuria window through light. This luminous “window” conveys wishes of prosperity and harvest, while evoking shared festive memories across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

"Dance of Form Entropy" employs architectural particle motion as its visual language, constructing tension between order and disorder. In shifting light, architecture alternately crystallizes into rational structures and dissolves into flowing nebulae, reimagining the city as an experiment in energy and time.

From the folk roots of "A Myriad of Lights" to the urban skyline evoked in "Dance of Form Entropy," Glow Nanshan uses light as a medium to construct a complete narrative of place — honoring tradition while engaging the present, preserving cultural warmth while responding to the pulse of the times.

Redefining Shenzhen’s Identity in Global Light Art

PART 01

This light art spectacle is not merely an exhibition, but a redefinition of urban identity.

A "Shenzhen model"

Compared with the century-old Lyon Festival of Lights or the visually spectacular Vivid Sydney, Glow Nanshan places greater emphasis on its integration with local industries and everyday urban life.

Anchored in the concept of “One Street, One Belt, One Stage” — a luminous boulevard along Shenzhen Bay Street, a coastal light-and-shadow leisure belt, and an immersive sky-and-ground stage — the event links public spaces, commercial districts, and city landmarks into a coherent narrative and experiential route.

Through projections on building facades, drone performances, cycling interactions, and more, citizens can walk through light, cycle through light, shop amid light, and even view light from the sea — seamlessly integrating art into daily life.

Building a network of light art

At Glow Nanshan, light art is not only an aesthetic expression, but also a bridge to public value.

"First Year in the World," supported by Epson’s cutting-edge projection technology, achieves a high-precision digital art presentation. As the artist notes, technological equipment may be cold and distant, yet through public–private collaboration, it can be imbued with the power to heal and inspire.

Through forums and the Chasing Light and Dreams University Competition, Glow Nanshan fosters both international dialogue and local creative talent. “The Light Chasers,” conceived by university students, exemplifies how young creativity can take root in public space.

Through Glow Nanshan, light art has profoundly reshaped Nanshan’s nighttime landscape.

Although the installations will be dismantled after March 3, the seeds of art have already taken root in people’s hearts.

Lights may fade, but Nanshan’s exploration of the future city will continue. We look forward to next winter, when Shenzhen will again be a vital voice in the global dialogue on light.

Glow Shenzhen 2025 – Nanshan District Main Venue (Glow Nanshan)

Event Duration: Nov. 13, 2025 – Mar. 3, 2026

Main Event Venues:
Shenzhen Bay Street
Western Section of Shenzhen Bay 

Coastal Leisure Belt
Shenzhen Talent Park