Lumière is a free, accessible, contemporary arts festival taking place in Unama’ki-Cape Breton from September 27, 2025. The festival will showcase public installations and presentations of art, films and video, as well as educational programming. Join us for this unique celebration of 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
The Lumière Board of Directors would like to welcome you to the 15th year of Unama’ki’s Lumière Arts Festival, where contemporary art is showcased in unconventional spaces. This September the community will come alive with exciting opportunities to engage in the local arts community through attending artist talks, community workshops, a short film night, musical performances, and of course, the beloved art-at-night event on September 27. 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 2025 iteration of the Lumière Arts Festival and even more excited to see what this year’s lineup of artists and community groups will create.
Each year 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.
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 the 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.
Lumière volunteers are community-minded, energetic and arts-oriented. Whether you’re organized, outgoing or prefer to communicate through your phone, we’ve got a job for you!
We are still looking for volunteers for the late shift from 10:30pm-12:30am.
Please contact info@lumierecb.com or arrive at room 209 at Eltuek Arts Centre at 10:15pm.
Art festivals are community building. The potential that people have to do extraordinary things, and witnessing extraordinary things, can really set ones mind and heart on fire. Art is healing. Art is work. Whatever it is—keep going.
Melissa Kearney
I love what they stand for, I have great admiration for the work they do to amplify voices. To form connections and have conversations through artwork is profound. I’m very thankful spaces like this have been created.
Chanelle Julian
I have come home to make work about home and I can’t imagine a better place to share that work than this excellent community-based festival.
Daniel MacIvor
Lumière Arts Festival, on behalf of the board, the artists, and the communities we represent, acknowledges that we work, live and play in the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people, in Unama’ki Cape Breton, who have stewarded these lands since time immemorial.
We are grateful not only for the strong and ongoing stewardship of these lands we call home, but also for the stories, music, and art that Mi’kmaq people continue to create and share, carrying ancestral voices, sacred teachings, and legacies of interconnectedness and resilience forward into the present and on to the future.
We aspire to reflect that sense of connection between past and present in our festival. We are inspired by L’nu artists to foster connection and self-reflection in our work. We will work to ensure that art is accessible, inclusive, and integrated into public spaces so that we can share our collective stories, recognizing the challenges of our past and imagining brighter futures.
We are all Treaty people.
