Portland Winter Light Festival 2024 Announces Artist Lineup

The Portland Winter Light Festival (PDXWLF), a renowned celebration of art and illumination, returns for its ninth year, February 2 — 10, 2024. This free, citywide event, presented by PGE, promises to captivate audiences with light installations and performances by more than 130 artist teams.

PDXWLF will activate the central city at key locations like Pioneer Courthouse Square, the World Trade Center and The Electric Blocks (open on Fridays and Saturdays only). In addition, a network of pop — up installations will illuminate neighborhoods and business districts across the city, from Lents to Northwest and beyond, transforming retail windows, vacant storefronts and public spaces into a playground of light and creativity. Festival fans can view these popups throughout the nine — day festival.

A complete artist roster is now available at pdxwlf.com and in the press kit. PDXWLF welcomes a diverse lineup of local, regional and national artists to showcase their visions with installations and performances related to this year’s theme, “What Glows Under Pressure.”

The PDXWLF 2024 roster includes:

Heather Dawn Sparks — Nautilus Deep Sea: a public sculpture at Waterfront Park that marks PDXWLF’s second formal artist commission.
Nicky Alice — Tesseract: a mesmerizing inﬁnity mirror art sculpture cube recently featured at Miami’s Art Basel.
Olivia Guethling, Mar Rickeds and Trevor Blackann of GuildWorks — Migrations: a large — scale migratory bird sculpture debuted at Burning Man 2023.
Andrew Wade Smith — Projection Magic: a returning favorite, Smith’s large — scale projection mapping of a central Eastside building will once again become a tapestry of light.
Stephen Schieberl — Bubble: a colossal interactive inﬂatable installation featuring fantastical sea creatures and liquid ripples.
Opening Night Fire Show, Bright Heart Circus, Spencer Sprocket and more: Beloved performance acts return to add their creative ﬂair to the festival.

Beyond the artistic spectacle, PDXWLF fosters connection and community and activates the city during the darkest time of the year. The festival’s commitment to accessibility extends to its free admission and dedication to neighborhood engagement and economic stimulation. In 2023, PDXWLF welcomed nearly 208,000 visitors, generated an estimated economic impact of $4.4 million and relied on the support of over 250 volunteers.

“The Portland Winter Light Festival is JUST the kind of energy our region needs during the winter months and PGE is proud to power it (with renewable energy, of course!). Portland is known for its eclectic energy and we’re excited to invite families, local and from a far, to the downtown core and surrounding areas to experience the wonder of light and art against the backdrop of a vibe that can only be found in our beautiful city.” ~Taaj Armstrong; PGE Community Impact

Event: Portland Winter Light Festival 2024
Dates: February 2-10, 2024
Anchor Locations: Pioneer Courthouse Square, World Trade Center, The Electric Blocks
Pop-Up Locations: Throughout Portland
Anchor Site Hours: Fridays and Saturdays, 6-10pm
Pop-Up Location Hours: Open throughout the festival, 6-10pm, speciﬁc times vary Visit com and follow the festival on social media for the latest updates.

About the Portland Winter Light Festival:
The Portland Winter Light Festival, an event of the Willamede Light Brigade, has a mission to unite communities through the fusion of art and technology, invigorating Portland during the winter months. As a nonproﬁt, it relies on the generosity of individual donors and esteemed supporters, including Presenting Sponsor PGE, as well as Prosper Portland, Downtown Portland, TriMet, James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation, Travel Portland, NECA IBEW, Killian Paciﬁc, Oregon Media Group, Portland Streetcar and others available at pdxwlf.com/sponsors If you’d like to contribute, visit pdxwlf.com/donate and be a part of brightening Portland’s winter nights.