Palma’s Festival of Light: A Spectacle Worth Waking Up For

Twice a year thousands of brave souls drag themselves out of their warm and cosy beds before daybreak to see Palma’s Festival of Light. Though initially painful, it’s worth foregoing a lie in on a cold and dark morning to … well, look at the sun’s reflection through a stained-glass window. Wait! What?

It’s time to find out the origins and significance of Palma’s Festival of Light and why it’s worth getting up for. 

What is the Festival of Light (Festa de la Llum)?

Palma’s Festival of Light (Festa de la Llum and Fiesta de la Luz in Catalan and Spanish respectively) is an event that takes place every year in Palma Cathedral on the 2nd of February and the 11th of November. If the sun’s shining between 8am and 9am on these days, the Cathedral’s main rose window – the world’s largest Gothic rosette! – casts a giant multi-coloured reflection beneath the smaller window on the opposite wall.

As you can see from the photos, the result is spectacular! 

But the event is about much more than pretty lights…

The significance of Palma’s Festival of Light

While light has always had cultural and religious significance, often being linked to the divine in Judaeo-Christian tradition, the days the light effect takes place are also significant:

• The 2nd of February falls forty days after Christmas and is when the Christian feast day of Candlemas is celebrated, commemorating the presentation of Jesus in the temple of Jerusalem and the purification of his mother, Mary. 
• The 11th of November is Saint Martin’s Day – the patron saint of beggars, drunkards, the poor, wine growers, and innkeepers. (Not a saint widely celebrated in Mallorca, but significant nonetheless.)

Aside from falling on important Christian feast days, the two palindrome dates (both reading the same forward and backwards) are significant seasonal markers: 

• 11/11 coincides with the end of the harvest season in Europe and is traditionally a time for feasting to celebrate the end of autumn and the start of winter preparations. 
• 02/02 on the other hand marks the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. This significant point in the agricultural and astronomical calendar symbolises the increasing strength of the sun and the coming of spring. 

What’s more, the shape created by the reflection beneath the smaller rose window – a figure 8 (known as vuit de la Seu (“eight of the cathedral” in Catalan)) – is highly symbolic in Christianity.

In the Bible, the number 8 symbolises new beginnings, regeneration, and resurrection as Jesus appeared eight times after his death. This makes eight a number of hope, new horizons, and a bright future, reflecting the transformative potential and potent energies in Christian belief. 

Divine, design, or coincidence?

Was Palma Cathedral designed with all this mind? Is it a result of divine intervention? While it was speculated that its original architects designed the cathedral to create this effect, all the evidence suggests that the dazzling display is due to pure chance.

The light effect is the result of Palma Cathedral’s orientation pointing to exactly the spot where the sun rises at the winter solstice. This unique alignment is highly unusual in medieval churches and is a result of the cathedral’s construction on the site of a pre-existing mosque (often built to face the winter sunrise in the mediaeval period). 

Moreover, the rose window that produces the effect wasn’t added until the mid-19th century, after an earthquake destroyed the Cathedral’s façade. This means the window wasn’t included in the orginal building plans which were started in 1229 completed in 1601.

So rather than the result of a grand master plan, it seems the Festival of Light is the result of a fortuitous alignment of the Cathedral’s architecture and the sun’s position in the winter sky. Nevertheless, it’s a unique and special sight to be seen.

Is it worth going to Palma’s festival of light?

TL;DR answer: Yes, and I don’t say this about everything on the island. (I’m looking at you Sóller train!)

Honestly, as someone who’s rarely awake before 9, I was reluctant to drag myself out of bed to go see some lights on a cathedral wall. But after visiting I can say it’s definitely worth seeing Palma’s Festival of Light at least once if you happen to be on the island on the 2nd of February or 11th of November.

While the Festival of Light may not be life-changing, it’s definitely a unique experience and a beautiful way to mark the passing of the seasons. There’s something very innocent and beautiful in the simplicity of gathering together thousands of people of all ages to watch the morning sun’s rays pass through a coloured window. Just like a Calçotada onion orgy, the Festival of Light is best appreciated when experienced first-hand. 

Refreshingly, the event isn’t commercialised in any way. (If we had an event like this in Britain I think we’d charge an entrance fee and flog hotdogs and coffee outside.) Instead, the Festival of Light is the only time of the year when non-residents can visit Palma cathedral for free (outside of religious services). 

So what are you waiting for? Get yourself down there and save yourself the usual entrance fee while you’re at it!

Tips for attending Palma’s Festival of Light

With that said, here are my tips to get the most out of  the event.

• Go on a sunny morning – Obviously you need sun for this to work, so if it’s cloudy you might have to wait for the next one! 
• Wrap up – November and February in Mallorca are generally chilly, including in the cathedral, so wear warm clothes.
• Go just before 9am –It takes about an hour for the coloured reflection to move from the corner of the western wall to its figure eight position, so if you’re impatient or early starts a challenge for you, know that you can go just before 9 and you won’t miss anything. You don’t need tickets, so there’ll be no standing around in queues.
• Don’t panic if you miss it! – If you sleep in or aren’t in Palma when it takes place, know that you don’t have to miss out as the event’s streamed live.
• Take a friend and go for breakfast after – Attending the festival of light at Palma Cathedral is a great way to start the day, and a yummy breakfast afterwards is the icing on the cake. We went to the nearby Surry Hills, an Australian brunch and coffee shop, and I can honestly say everything was delicious. (I don’t receive any commission for this by the way, I just love to share a good eatery.)

Now it’s over to you. What do you think? Will you be getting out of bed early to go see it? If you’ve already been, do you think it was worth going? Let me know in the comments below.