About Lumière Arts Festival

Lumière is a free, contemporary arts festival taking place in Unama’ki-Cape Breton from September 10th – September 24th, 2022. For two weeks, the festival will showcase public installations and presentations of art, films and video, as well as artist talks and educational programming. Join us for this unique celebration of contemporary art, culture and community spirit!

Lumière is organized by the Lumière Arts Festival Association, a not-for-profit organization that relies on the support of volunteers and community partners.

2 Weeks

13 Events
80

Artists
88%

Local Artists
44 installations

over one kilometre
6 participating

community groups
15000+

attendees

A Warm Welcome from our Board

The Lumière Board of Directors would like to welcome you to the 11th year of Unama’ki’s Lumière Arts Festival, where contemporary art is showcased in unconventional spaces. Starting on September 10, the community will come alive with exciting opportunities to engage in the local arts community by attending artist talks, community workshops, a short film night, musical performances, and of course, the beloved art-atnight event on September 24. Over the years, it has been incredible to see the support of the community for what has grown into an anticipated cultural event on Cape Breton Island where local and national artists can share their work with an eager crowd. We are excited to bring you the 2022 iteration of the Lumière Arts Festival and even more excited to see what this year’s lineup of artists and community groups will create.

We are proud to showcase the work of over 80 artists in this year’s festival from installations you’ll see at the art-at-night event, to the designers, artists, and technical crew working behind the scenes to bring the community a festival experience that all can enjoy. Lumière 2022 is presented under the theme of Re:Emergence. After years of forced separation and uncertainty, we are excited to invite you to join us as the community once again becomes alive with the spirit of the arts.

The Lumière Arts Festival would like to acknowledge that our festival takes place in Unamak’i, the unceded and ancestral land of the L’nu. This land is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik people first signed with the British Crown in 1726. The treaties did not deal with surrender of lands and resources but in fact recognized Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik title and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing relationship between nations.