The energy crisis will not get the better of the Christmas lights in Nantes. The lighting of the city will indeed take place this year. It will also be officially launched on Thursday evening. However, sobriety requires, the device has been thoroughly reviewed to allow a reduction in consumption of at least 45%. The drop could even be around 60% in the Nantes districts, assures the city of Nantes.
To achieve this, the period of illuminations (until January 1) has been reduced by one week compared to previous years. The lighting will not even start until December 2 outside the city center and will end the first week of January.
Lights only at night
The working hours are also reduced and limited to the evening: from dusk until 11 p.m. in the city center (until 10 p.m. in the districts) from Sunday evening to Thursday evening, from 5.30 p.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturday evenings. Including December 24 which usually stayed lit up all night. Last year, the illuminations were active in the evenings and mornings.
An effort has also been made on the composition of the illuminations, designed mainly from LEDs, so that they are energy efficient. This is particularly the case with the luminous works of the artist Vincent Olinet that the public will be able to discover from Thursday as part of the first edition of the Voyage en hiver event concocted by the Trip to Nantes (VAN). These moldings and sculptures exhibited on the facades of buildings are “designed to be as beautiful by day as by night, even without being lit”, says the VAN. Iconic tourist sites, such as the castle of the Dukes of Brittany, have also reduced the sails.