Signal Festival, Prague’s festival of light art, returns from Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 October 2026. According to the official festival site, the installations run every evening from 19:00 to 24:00 on two routes, Dejvice and Centrum, spread over 17 locations. Most of it is free: the organisers list 13 publicly accessible installations, plus eight indoor works in the ticketed Signal INSIDE programme.
Key facts
- When: 15–18 October 2026, daily 19:00–24:00 (VIP ticket holders can enter Signal INSIDE from 18:00).
- Where: two walking routes. The festival suggests starting at Dejvická metro station for the Dejvice route and Staroměstská for the Centrum route.
- Price: outdoor installations are free. Signal INSIDE tickets are listed at CZK 490 for one day and CZK 590 for four days (CZK 340 and CZK 440 for students, seniors and children), with Signal UNIVERSE at CZK 890 and VIP at CZK 1,990. The ticket page also showed lower sale prices when we checked.
What is on each route
Centrum
The programme lists a video mapping, “Living in Truth” by Svitlana Reinish, on the tower of the Old Town Hall, and free installations at Clam-Gallas Palace, the courtyard of the Church of Our Lady of the Snows and Republic Square. The ticketed indoor works on this route include the Church of Sts. Simon and Jude, the Faculty of Law, the Mirror Chapel in the Klementinum, Theatre X10 (Laurie Anderson and Hsin-Chien Huang’s “To the Moon”), the Savarin Riding Hall (Kurt Hentschläger’s “FLUX”) and Kampus Hybernská.
Dejvice
The second video mapping, “Missing Interval” by Felix Frank, is projected on the Archbishop’s Seminary. Free works are listed at the Troja–Podbaba navigation channel, General Lázaro Cárdenas Park, Fleming Square, Technická street (student projects from ČVUT and VŠCHT) and the PPF Gate on Evropská street. The Old Wastewater Treatment Plant (Laterna magika) and Masaryk Dormitory are part of Signal INSIDE.
Photographing it
The festival FAQ says photography is allowed only without flash and without tripods, and drones are prohibited. Plan to shoot handheld.
- Handheld settings: start around ISO 1600–3200, f/1.8–f/2.8 and 1/60–1/125 s. Projections change quickly, so a faster shutter keeps the pattern sharp; use image stabilisation and brace against a wall or lamp post for slower frames.
- Expose for the light: video mappings are far brighter than the dark facade around them. Dial in −0.7 to −1.3 EV or use highlight-weighted metering, and shoot RAW to recover shadows.
- White balance: set a fixed value (daylight or about 4000 K) so colours stay consistent between frames instead of drifting on auto.
- Lenses: a 24–35 mm prime covers most facades; a short telephoto helps isolate details and silhouettes of the crowd against the light.
- Crowds: the opening hour and the weekend evenings are the busiest. Thursday, or the last hour before midnight, gives more room. Video mappings loop, so watch one cycle first and shoot the second.
- Phone: use night mode, tap to expose on the brightest part and hold still for the full capture.
Dress warmly, carry a spare battery (cold drains them fast) and walk the routes rather than relying on trams, which the festival itself recommends.
Sources
- Signal Festival – official site
- Signal Festival – FAQ
- Signal Festival – programme and map
- Signal Festival – tickets
Details were checked on 1 October 2026; confirm on the official site before you go.
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