2025 North Coast Light Festival

Since 2020, New Taipei City has launched the “Urban Green Aesthetics Project”, positioning the North Coast as its main stage. By integrating light art with landscapes, the initiative has enhanced both night tourism and urban aesthetics. Building on the reputation of Photosynthesis and the North Coast Light Festival, the 2025 edition presents a new chapter infused with international collaboration and creative curation. Through light installations and artistic language, the design team created a festival that combines artistry with local identity, tightly linking the North Coast with the aesthetics of the night.

The 2025 North Coast Light Festival is not merely an event but a multi-layered site-specific theater. This year, Jinshan Zhongjiao Bay Beach became a natural stage, with the ocean as its infinite backdrop and fire-dance troupes performing to the rhythm of the waves. For the first time, three top-tier performance groups came together: local troupe Circus Gate, fire-dance specialists TRUE SPIN, and Hong Kong’s Flow Space Studio. Each created original programs in their own artistic expressions while engaging in cross-disciplinary dialogue that sparked new creativity.

     American artist Amber Vittoria authorized the transformation of her lyrical paintings into an installation Walks in Light. She also collaborated with the light-sculpting team Tian Yen Interaction to present the beach projection Flames in Bloom, immersing audiences in a poetic interplay of fire and waves. The program expanded beyond performances to include markets, sustainable craft workshops, and a beach cleanup campaign, inviting visitors to protect the ocean through hands-on participation and embedding sustainability into daily life.

With “waves” and “fire dance” as dual curatorial axes, the visual identity drew from oceanic blues and fiery oranges. When fire dancers traced arcs of light across the beach and wave sounds intertwined with light performances, audiences experienced both visual and emotional resonance.

     Amber Vittoria’s artwork was translated into a three-dimensional installation enhanced with soft LED strips for visibility and impact at night. The beach projection employed high-precision mapping technology, merging the rhythms of flame with the organic growth of plants. The result was an embroidery of light flowing across the sand, layered with warm and cool tones to create a poetic nocturnal seascape.

The event spanned the Zhongjiao Bay International Surfing Base and Jinshan Old Street. The main beach exhibition integrated two art installations, a fire-dance stage, and spectator zones to form an open-air natural theater. Programming included four sustainable craft workshops, four fire-dance performances, and dual marketplaces, connecting art, performance, and local commerce across multiple sites. This created an expanded circuit that extended the audience experience from the shoreline into the town, shaping a complete visitor journey.Over three months of planning and production, the team overcame strong coastal winds to transform Amber Vittoria’s paintings into the installation Walks in Light. The North Coast, once known only as a surfing destination by day, became by night a cultural landmark of fire, light, and performance.

     Audiences were especially impressed by the interplay of fire dance and projection mapping, often describing the experience as otherworldly. Local residents affirmed the event’s success in attracting visitors, boosting tourism, and revitalizing local businesses. With the addition of sustainable workshops and the inaugural beach cleanup, the project created an all win situation, benefiting organizers, local vendors, and audiences alike.