Barco projection lights up the Shanghai skyline for the International Light Festival

From September 19 to October 18, the 2nd Shanghai International Light Festival dazzled the city, weaving together art, technology, culture, and commerce through brilliant light-based experiences. Powered by Barco projectors, the festival’s breathtaking architectural mappings, immersive performances and projection shows illuminated Shanghai’s night sky, celebrating the city’s unique cultural charm, rich heritage, and innovative spirit.

The 2nd Shanghai International Light Festival delivered a fully immersive visual experience and multisensory enjoyment through cutting-edge projection technologies. During the event, Barco deployed almost 150 projectors – including the UDX, UDM, and G100 series –, bringing to life breathtaking visuals and deeply immersive experiences across multiple districts and venues.

The festival’s outdoor installations, especially those near the Huangpu River, faced high humidity and moisture - posing significant challenges for waterproof reliability and durability. Meanwhile, the architectural diversity across different venues required meticulous fine-tuning of the projected content to match each building’s orientation, angle, split-levels, depth, and contours, ensuring distortion-free, three-dimensional effects.

A total of over 148 Barco UDX, UDM, and G100 projectors illuminated Shanghai’s Xuhui, Jing’an, Yangpu, Baoshan, and Huangpu districts, as well as Huangyan, (Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province), creating immersive light and visual experiences.

1.   Xuhui District

Tank Art Show - “Cocoon of Symbiosis”: six UDX-4K40 projectors transformed oil tanks into glowing cocoons, symbolizing the harmony between humanity and the nature.

Concrete Warehouse - “Happy Time Capsule”: five UDX-4K40 projectors mapped playful, era-spanning visuals, turningd the venue into a landmark of joyful memories.

Mini Warehouse - “Healing Energy Tank”: three UDX-W40 created a whimsical mapping on the small concrete warehouse. Immersive imagery of adorable pets and sweet desserts conveyed a sense of positivity and happiness.

Dock Lighting Theatre - “Digital Tides”: four G100-W22 projectors presented a stunning water-screen show, visualizing Xuhui’s ambition to build a “Technology & Innovation Waterfront”.

2.   Jing’an District

“Shining Shanghai” 2025 International Light Art Show: ten UDM-W30 projectors illuminated Shenyu Li’s exterior walls, showcasing award-winning works from artists across 32 countries worldwide.

Suhewan - “Light-colored Canvas”: Twelve UDM-30K projectors transformed building façades into giant canvases, reimagining masterpieces by Klimt, Chagall, and Rousseau through vibrant strokes of lighting.

Jing’an Park - “Transcendence”: two UDX-W40 projectors cast large-scale imagery on a giant fabric screen, merging live VJ performances with music for a dynamic light show.

3.   Yangpu District

Fuxing Island Slipway Park - “Century of Light”: eighteen UDX-4K40 projectors mounted on cranes delivered a massive light sculpture, telling the epic story of Yangpu’s journey from industrial civilization to a digital future.

Jiangwan Sports Center: six UDX-W32 projectors delivered an anime-themed mapping, showcasing the integration of the animation industry with Yangpu’s cultural development.

4.   Baoshan District

Nanda Ecological & Smart City - “Gateway to Innovation”: twenty-eight UDX-W40 projectors brought to life a 6,000 m² naked-eye 3D light show, visualizing an impressed futuristic magic world.

5.   Huangpu District

“Yuanwang-1” ship projection show: forty UDX-4K40 projectors transformed the historic space tracking ship into a storytelling vessel of light. The show narrated the enchanting journey of the “Seeds of Light”, traveling from glaciers to the city and blossoming into warm, radiant flowers, symbolizing the harmonious coexistence of urban development and humanistic care.

Old Wharf Warehouse No.5 - “Energy Blue Ocean”: two UDX-4K40 projectors brought the original “Heartfire Sprite” IP to life, creating a dynamic, multi-industry experience that blends culture, tourism, commerce, and entertainment in one spectacle.

6.   Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province

Huangyan Caves - “Legacy in Stone”: twelve UDX-W40 projectors seamlessly integrated dazzling projection visuals with the caves’ naturally sculpted spaces, offering visitors a fantastical journey through light and stone.

The 2nd Shanghai International Light Festival brilliantly reflected Shanghai’s spirit of inclusiveness and excellence. Looking ahead, Barco remains committed to advancing imaging technologies and product solutions, partnering to drive the sustained growth of the lighting & projection economy, and deliver more spectacular visual wonders and immersive experiences to the public.