- Running from 13 – 22 November 2026, Lumo Art & Tech is a new ten-day international festival located in the globally recognised technology hub of Oulu, Northern Finland
- Exploring the evolving relationship between art and technology, the festival pairs a professional programme of talks and seminars with immersive public exhibitions spanning light, sound, digital and media art
- Lumo Art & Tech will activate the entire city through a network of partner organisations and distinctive venues, including two new cultural spaces opening Autumn 2026
Lumo Art and Tech Festival is a new ten-day international festival of art and technology taking place in Oulu, Finland, from 13–22 November 2026. Part of the European Capital of Culture for 2026 and supported by the City of Oulu, the inaugural edition will present a rich and diverse public and professional programme exploring the intersections and shared synergies between these fields. Held during the dark northern November season, the festival creates a distinctive setting for immersive cultural experiences showcasing light, sound, digital and media art, alongside a curated series of seminars, talks and conferences.
Through close collaboration between artists, universities, cultural institutions and technology companies, the festival will unfold across more than 10 venues and outdoor locations throughout the city. Lumo Art & Tech is an expansion of Oulu’s annual Lumo light art festival, welcoming international visitors, creative professionals and residents alike.
A city renowned for its deep ties to Nokia – once its largest employer, the birthplace of its global wireless innovations and the historic “home of radio” – Oulu has seen its legacy rapidly evolve into a growing startup ecosystem. In recent years, this technological energy has increasingly converged with artistic innovation; in 2023 Oulu was selected as a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of Media Arts, recognising the city’s strong vision for culture, technology and digital innovation.
Lumo’s light art programme will be more ambitious and internationally diverse than ever before. With the national FLASH5 Light Art Biennale also coming to the city, Oulu will be immersed in light. The new subarctic sound festival TAR offers a different way of listening to and tuning into the world across six venues in the city, with a commissioned installation by low-frequency artist Stefanie Egedy featuring 24 subwoofers as a highlight.
Exhibitions, site-specific installations, and artistic events will bring the city to life, using technology as a creative lens to reframe Oulu’s urban landscape and public spaces. As part of this programming, Danish artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen’s The Kuutar Garden uses cutting-edge video game technology to transform the city’s central underground car park into a virtual replica of Oulu’s Botanical Garden at −21°C. Meanwhile, Cultural Centre Valve will present Arctic Clouds by Josefina Nelimarkka, an immersive environment where mist, glass, water, ice, and real-time climate data from Oulu and Arctic research stations converge. In Oulu Cathedral, The Logos sees artist and creative technologist Andrew Melchior transform more than 4,000 cosmic signals into an immersive spatial audio installation. The project merges astrophysics, sound art and spiritual space into a unique sensory experience.
The festival’s professional programme – comprising seminars, talks, conferences and other networking events – expands these artistic explorations into broader societal and technological discussions. At Oulu’s highly anticipated new cultural event space, Tarkastamo will play host to a five-day programme of keynotes and panel discussions, tackling subjects including sustainability, the future of wireless technologies, light art and Art of Work, an exploration of how art and technology shape contemporary working life. Meanwhile, Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oamk) will present its annual AVARA event, this year taking the theme of ‘Space’ as a departure point to interrogate the physical, conceptual, virtual, social and cosmic dimensions of art and technology.
Venues and locations will extend from public and commercial spaces to cultural institutions. Another key site will be the city’s new Museum and Science Centre Tiima, featuring its “Experience Space” VISIO. Developed in partnership with Austria’s Ars Electronica Solutions, VISIO utilises their pioneering Deep Space design and concept to plunge visitors into an all-encompassing large-scale virtual reality.
A catalyst for connection, discussion, and creative encounters, Lumo Art & Tech Festival is a legacy project that cements the city’s reputation as a leading incubator for art and technology. Ari Alatossava, Mayor of Oulu, expands:
“Oulu is a city where technology and creativity naturally come together. Our goal is to establish Oulu as a world-class meeting point for art, culture and creative technologies. As a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in Media Arts, we are proud to bring this strength to life through Lumo Art & Tech Festival.”
The main partner of the festival is Nokia. Other partners include Oulun Pysäköinti, Avidly, Genelec, LähiTapiola, and Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oamk).
The full programme for Lumo Art & Tech Festival will be announced in Autumn 2026.
