napa lighted art festival 2026
The Napa Lighted Art Festival is a celebration of creative arts, technology, and lights. The Napa Lighted Art Festival is a free, open-air festival with the nighttime backdrop of downtown Napa. It is open to all members of the public and will attract admirers from near and far. Currently in its 8th edition, the festival supports innovative techniques using light and light technologies as a growing art medium.
Both artists and artist groups are encouraged to apply to have an installation featured at the Napa Lighted Art Festival. For the 2026 Festival, the curatorial team will select approximately 10 installations to receive a stipend between $2,000-$10,000. Artists interested in submitting should consider both the audience and the outdoor environment of the festival when proposing a project. Each artwork of the Napa Lighted Art Festival will be open and operational for all festival hours for each of the nights.
The spirit of the Napa Lighted Art Festival embodies the following core concepts:
Innovative
Contemporary
Uplifting
Inspiring
Imaginative
The festival supports innovative techniques using light and light technologies as a growing art medium. Light itself in any form should be the actual artwork, and we require that the role of light be essential to your concept. We are not looking for artworks where light is used only to illuminate it. We also strongly encourage new technologies and innovative use of light.
As well as new ideas for artworks, we are open to receiving proposals to exhibit existing works, provided they meet the festival themes and criteria.
Artwork could include any of the following genres and/or technology: light sculptures, light art, video art, 3D video mapping projections, LED, fiber optics, custom gobo designs, interactive works, lasers etc.
General Festival Information
Festival Dates: January 17th – February 15th, 2026
Festival Times: Sunday-Thursday 6:00-9:00 p.m. and Friday-Saturday 6:00-10:00 p.m.
Location: Various sites and buildings in the Napa Downtown Area
Napa Lighted Art Festival
The Napa Lighted Art Festival started in 2017 and the festival had the 7th exhibition in 2025. The festival’s attendance is approximately 70,000. In addition to the art installations, past festivals have included the iconic Napa Valley hot air balloons called "Night Bloom" that lit up the Oxbow Commons and a community driven Lantern Parade where everyone gets to make their own lighted art. The festival has included artist meet and greet experiences, educational or historical tours, and musical performances. The festival is free and open to the public.
Artwork Selection Criteria
Construction: All works at Napa Lighted Art Festival are staged in the public spaces for an extended time and this requires rigid constructions. At times, the weather in Napa during the winter can vary from year to year. Napa can be stormy, wet and cold, so the technical feasibility, rigidity and durability of your concept is of utmost importance. A construction overview of durability is required with your submission. For some structures or sculptures, it will be required to provide stamped engineering drawings.
Sound: The use of sound is encouraged when possible with projection mapping pieces. The soundtrack should be submitted with the correlating visuals.
Lighting: All sculptures or physical artwork must be able to be powered the entire time or provide a timer to self-turn-on every evening by 6pm. The festival staff will not manually turn on any installation.
Period: Digital artwork must be available and uploaded to the provide Drop Box folder by Monday December 8, 2025. Sculptures or any physical art for the festival needs to arrive and be installed no later than January 10, 2026 (and deinstalled no later than February 28, 2026).
Visitor Experience: Please keep in mind that your work may be positioned in pedestrian zones, sidewalks, parking lots, or perhaps in a plaza or park-like setting. Visitors will be able to experience your artwork from approximately 50-100 feet for installations such as projection artwork on buildings or be able to touch it for physical artwork. They will expect to be amazed as they walk from exhibit to exhibit but also spend time at each installation. Community members and visitors should enjoy sharing their experience with others and/or have a deeper personal understanding about the relationship between light, art and the festival’s core concepts & theme.
Location: There are different types of locations along the festival art walk route. Your work will be positioned in a pedestrian zone adjacent to a private or public building, mainly along the downtown corridor. The potential locations are included but are subject to change. The artist may suggest a location for the artwork upon submission; however, the curatorial team will make the final decision in favor of the entire visitor experience of the festival route.
Technical Limitations: The artist will be provided with a description of the technical limitations for each site. The festival strives to push the boundaries of technology through art. However, the safety and well-being of the participants and property are of the highest importance. Please note there are safety considerations as people will be moving through and around the art installation. There may be limitations due to building code and other factors. Therefore, based on budget and physical location, there may be limitations to achieve technical realization. In some cases, a different approach may be needed or recommended in consultation with the artist.
Curatorial Team: Curatorial team consisting of City of Napa staff and possible consultants conducting the initial review of the submissions to ensure the applications are complete as well as meet the artistic and technical requirements For installations at private property sites, the property owners often are involved in the final selection of the installations. The curatorial team will select artworks that together form a coherent and harmonious exhibition based upon the goals and core concepts for the festival.