From 2 to 5 July, the Zsolnay Light Festival once again filled the historic centre of Pécs with light and art as it celebrated its tenth anniversary. The jubilee edition featured a special international focus: Ireland was the festival’s guest of honour and focus country. The programme showcased both contemporary and traditional aspects of Irish culture through large-scale light installations, the work of a renowned Irish artist, a Hungarian-Irish dance performance, and an authentic Irish music concert.
Year after year, the festival organisers seek to reveal new cultural connections through the medium of light art. The Irish focus programme offers both spectacular visual experiences and engaging cultural dialogue, while drawing attention to the surprising links between Irish traditions and Hungarian culture.
Celtic Stories Written in Light Along the Route of Light
The Irish focus programme welcomed visitors at two locations along the Route of Light, in the heart of Pécs’ museum quarter, where state-of-the-art projection technology guaranteed an unforgettable visual experience.
- Irish Frequency – Atmospheric Projection Mapping (Janus Pannonius Museum Directorate, 5 Káptalan Street) The Light Spray Visual team created the visual setting for the Irish Focus venue through an atmospheric projection mapping installation. Built on strong contrasts, geometric forms, and mathematical rhythms, the expressive projection also evoked the mood of Irish landscapes. Rather than telling specific stories, the artwork created a meditative, dreamlike visual experience through intertwining patterns, structures of light, and abstract symbols.
- Oblivion / Seachmalltacht – A Digital Vision (Zsolnay Museum, 2 Káptalan Street.) This remarkable multimedia work by Irish artist Aideen Barry explored themes of memory and cultural survival. Combining Irish harp music with Inuit throat singing, the installation paid tribute to suppressed languages and folklore traditions. Its apocalyptic imagery gradually transformed into a pulsating electronic journey and a celebration of freedom.
A 3D Mapping Tribute to a World-Renowned Hungarian Artist
The festival’s most popular attraction, the Zsolnay Light Art Video Mapping Competition, also featured a special Irish connection that year. As part of the Irish focus programme, visitors were able to see Hommage à Martyn Ferenc, a 3D mapping animation projected onto the façade of the Cathedral.
The acclaimed Hungarian collective Glowing Bulbs created a work that reinterpreted the ink drawings and graphic works of Ferenc Martyn, the internationally recognised abstract artist from Pécs, whose life and career were closely connected to Ireland. The original artworks were elevated into a new dimension: distinctive lines evolved into three-dimensional forms, associative spaces, and new layers of meaning. Both a tribute and a reinterpretation, the animation invited viewers on a visual journey through Martyn’s unique abstract universe.
When Riverdance meets Hungarian Folk Dance traditions
One of the most spectacular outdoor events of the Irish Focus programme was Dance of Danu, presented on Széchenyi Square on the evening of 3 July.
This unique, one-off performance brought together the Erin Irish Dance Company and the youth ensemble of the Hungarian Bihari János Dance Company. The choreography, born from the encounter between Irish step dancing and Hungarian folk dance, created a remarkable cultural bridge between the two countries.
The performance took its name from Danu, the ancient Celtic river goddess, whose name was believed to have survived in the Latin name of the Danube, Danubius. The production simultaneously evoked the identity connected to Hungary’s great river and the world-renowned traditions of Irish dance.
The Sound of Galway in the Heart of Pécs
Fans of Irish musical traditions also found plenty to enjoy. On the evening of 3 July, the Kellegher Brothers duo from Galway performed in Káptalan Street.
Seán and Josh Kellegher brought the rich musical heritage of western Ireland to life through fiddle and guitar. Adding a special dimension to the concert, the two Irish musicians were joined by Hungarian performers, guitarist Róbert Császár and violinist Zsombor Horváth, both of whom had been dedicated ambassadors of Irish folk music in Hungary for decades.
Visitors to Káptalan Street could also explore an Irish gastronomic courtyard, where they had the opportunity to sample characteristic food and drink specialties from the Emerald Isle.
Coming from Budapest, Arán Bakery joined us with Irish soda bread, pesto sticks, Guinness chocolate muffins, and homemade duck-fat bread topped with pickled red onions. Their sweet treats were also available, including peanut oatmeal cookies, blueberry-hazelnut vegan cookies, and hazelnut brownies.
The Irish Pub brought two excellent products from the world-famous Guinness brewery in Dublin to refresh visitors to the Light Festival.
Frey Confectionery created the St. Patrick linzer in two variations.
The Irish Focus programme is implemented with the support of the Embassy of Ireland and Pannonia Bio
