With so many events filing up the holiday calendar during the New Orleans holiday season, one event seems to quite literally outshine the others, LUNA Fête. According to this detailed profile from Nola.com, the annual light-art experience will be lighting-up the new Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Pedestrian Park in 2021 from December 16-19 from 6 pm to 10 pm.
LUNA Fête was initially founded by the Arts Council of New Orleans in 2013, and it was first set in Lafayette Squarenear Gallier Hall before it was held in various socially distanced locations scattered across town in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. LUNA Fête 2021 makes its extravagant return by relocating to the Convention Center Pedestrian Park, which is located along Convention Center Boulevard and is free to the public.
Those unfamiliar with the annual light-show may be surprised by the sheer scale of the event which has previously been described as an all-out “extravaganza” that is also a vibrant “mashup of Celebration in the Oaks and The Matrix.” LUNA Fête credits its electrical and architectural inspiration to various European light-art festivals, as it features the traditionally decadent holiday lights along with large, radiant sculptures and massive projections.
The end result is described as having a “certain digitized, science fiction vibe,” which is quite appropriate for anyone who has attended the public outdoor event. In fact, LUNA Fête will be taking place at the same time as the annual convention for the American Geophysicists Union, making the intergalactic architecture and settings an appropriate backdrop for convention attendees.
This year, the Arts Council of New Orleans had commissioned the renowned architecture “mapper” Bart Kresa to produce a massive projection on the wall of the Convention Center’s Hall D for LUNA Fête. In electrical architectural circuits, Kresa is likely most known for his work at the 2017 Los Angeles premier for Game of Thrones, where he projected jaw-dropping settings and Westeros-inspired iconography across Frank Gehry’s Disney Concert Hall.
An additional must-see of the event that’s been gaining buzz around the Crescent City is a particular art installation from the New Orleans-based art team known as the Virtual Krewe of Vaporwave. Taking inspiration from psychedelic and cyber-space-adjacent iconography, the krewe is often heralded for its unique interpretation of Carnivale. For instance, the krewe created a “memorably frenetic and fractured rock opera in the Piazza d’Italia” for 2019’s LUNA Fête. This year, the Virtual Krewe of Vapor Wave’s projected production will take place during the December 19th New Orleans Saints game and thus will serve as a tribute to the team.
Not only is attending LUNA Fête free, but festival access to the exhibits is currently unlimited though this is subject to change. Lindsay Glatz, an Arts Council spokesperson told Nola.com that if it’s decided that reinstating social distancing measures is necessary, then access to the events may be scaled back, but the event won’t be scattered across the city as in 2020. This is due to the fact that social distancing is made much more possible at the Convention Center Pedestrian Park rather than Lafayette Square.
Due to the fact that many LUNA Fête exhibits have specifically timed electrical components as a part of their theatrical art installations, many of the art installations are temporary. However, this year’s light festival will debut several sculpture exhibits that will be permanent installations at the Convention Center Pedestrian Park. One of the installations is a tribute to Louis Armstrong created by New Orleans sculptor Rontherin Ratliff, and another is an LED-lit, crescent-shaped bench by internationally acclaimed artist Erwin Redl.
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