Piedmont
Turin Luci d’Artista 2026: Dates, the 31 Light Works and Where to See Them
Turin's Luci d'Artista run from 23 October 2026 to 10 January 2027, with 31 light works across the city, four of them new, free to see from the street.
Turin's Luci d'Artista run from 23 October 2026 to 10 January 2027 across the city.
This is the 29th edition, with 31 light works by artists and four of them new.
The lights are free and outdoors, hung over streets and squares and fixed to buildings from the centre to the outer districts. The curator is Antonio Grulli, for the Fondazione Torino Musei, and the edition carries the title Memories and Future Dreams, as the art magazine Finestre sull'Arte reports.
Quick answer
Dates: 23 October 2026 to 10 January 2027.
What: 31 light installations by contemporary artists, free to see from the street.
New in 2026: works by Tony Oursler, Samson Young, Flavio Favelli and CANEMORTO.
Also on: the ATP Finals from 15 to 22 November.
The trap: Christmas markets. Turin's are small and start late, and the lights are the reason to come.
Thirty-one works, and four new ones
Luci d'Artista began in 1998, when the city asked artists to design its Christmas lights. The works have returned every winter since, moved from street to street, and the collection has grown into an open-air museum that switches on at dusk.
The 2026 edition adds four. Tony Oursler's Star(life) is on the facade of the Politecnico on Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, his first permanent public work in Italy. Samson Young's Inversions fills the east courtyard of the OGR, the former railway workshops. Flavio Favelli has built Poetiche del confine from salvaged railings damaged in the bombings of the Second World War, and the collective CANEMORTO drives The Radiant Van, a travelling piece.
Where to see the lights
Two works never move. Mario Merz's red neon numbers climb the dome of the Mole Antonelliana in the Fibonacci sequence, and Rebecca Horn's blue rings float around the church on the Monte dei Cappuccini, across the Po. The second is best seen from the river bank at Piazza Vittorio Veneto.
The rest hang over the streets of the centre and in the squares between Porta Nuova station and the river, and a walk along Via Roma and Via Po passes under several in most years. The route changes a little each winter, and the city publishes a map of the works.
Markets and the ATP Finals
Turin is not a market city in the Alpine sense. Its Christmas village on Piazza Solferino, with an ice rink, a house for Father Christmas and craft stalls, ran from 5 December to 6 January last season, and the city has not yet posted its 2026 dates. Expect it in early December.
Before that the city is busy for another reason. The ATP Finals bring the eight best tennis players of the year to the Inalpi Arena from 15 to 22 November, and hotel prices follow.
Reaching Turin by train
Turin has two main stations, Porta Nuova and Porta Susa, both on the high-speed line from Milan, which takes about an hour. From Rome the fast trains take a little over four hours. Porta Nuova opens straight onto Via Roma, so the lights begin outside the station. No taxi is needed.
Where to stay in Turin
The grid of arcaded streets between Porta Nuova, Piazza San Carlo and Piazza Castello puts most of the works within a short walk, under cover if it rains. Turin has 18 kilometres of arcades, and in winter they earn their keep.
The streets around Piazza Vittorio Veneto and the river are livelier in the evening, with the Monte dei Cappuccini lit across the water.
The mistake to avoid
Do not come for stalls and mulled wine. This is not Bolzano. A visitor who expects it finds one square of chalets in December and little else. Come for the lights, the museums, the cafes under the arcades and a cup of bicerin, and treat the market as an extra.
The second mistake is the week of the ATP Finals without a booking. From 15 to 22 November rooms are scarce and dear.
Related guides
Christmas markets in Italy in 2026
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