Valenciennes Promenade Des Arts Fontainedboukla — ©Valenciennes Promenade Des Arts Fontaine Watteau|David Boukla OTCVM

The Promenade des Arts

Have you ever discovered Valenciennes by night?

When night falls, the city offers a thousand and one lights and transforms itself for spectators. The Promenade des Arts is a 1,100-metre-long route running from west to east. It is woven between two major cultural institutions that contribute to the city’s artistic influence: the conservatory on rue Ferrand with the École nationale de musique et d’arts dramatiques, and the Musée des Beaux-Arts on rue des Incas.

Published on 11 October 2024

In the footsteps of "blue moon The light trail

When night falls, a special atmosphere takes hold of Valenciennes… Light covers its walls, “just enough” to allow us to rediscover the beauty of its architecture, the richness of its artistic tradition…

The role of light in Valenciennes, originally strictly functional and safety-oriented, has evolved (as it has in many other metropolises around the world), and Valenciennes is now using it to build a genuine night-time identity and develop its tourist appeal.

The Promenade des Arts is punctuated along its entire length by a succession of blue lanterns, suspended or on brackets at each intersection. Made of blown glass in a metal frame… This luminous object is your guide! And its nickname is “blue moon”.

Valenciennes Projection Promenade Des Artsdboukla 1 — ©Valenciennes Screening Promenade Des Arts|David Boukla OTCVM

A city is beautiful at night

The “Sculptor of Light” tour

A sound trail, inviting visitors to follow “la promenade des arts” in the footsteps of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux to meet the sculptors, to understand their secrets, to know the story that each work tells. Smartphone in hand, headphones in ears, I begin the sound trail Sculpteur de lumière…

A succession of “standing dream stories

Make your way to Place Carpeaux, opposite the sculpture “Carpeaux méditant” by Félix Desruelles. Now you’re ready to be guided through the 12 stages of a true initiatory tale.

A mysterious ferryman invites you to follow him… In fact, this ferryman makes way for the “bluemoon” lantern: the totemic object that marks out the route over some 1km. At each new stage, a new story, often set to music, helps you understand the artistic, historical or literary characteristics attached to each work or artist you encounter…

You’re off for a stroll with your eyes and mind wide open… Let yourself be carried away, and simply marvel…

Why is that good?

Reason #1

Light creates emotion and adds value to the discovery of a monument, an architecture, a district, a place… It sets the scene” for the city center’s heritage and sculptures.

Reason #2

It’s not just an enchanted interlude! While the Promenade des Arts is currently lit only on weekends, the dazzling illumination of the façade of City Hall can be seen every evening of the year. And it’s even brighter when major events take place on the Place d’Armes.

Reason #3

Simply for the pleasure of a night stroll.

Spotlight on...

Our other sparkling monuments!

In Valenciennes, light also adorns the monumental 18th-century General Hospital, the impressive 45-metre-high sculpture on the Place d’Armes, and the dazzling façade of the Town Hall…

Every evening, as night falls, you’ll be treated to a loop of lights that sublimate the smallest details of the town hall.
The lighting enhances the vertical and horizontal axes alternately or simultaneously, depending on the scenario. The different scenarios allow us to play with contrasting hues, to highlight certain elements and leave others in the dark, and to create dynamic effects.