LIGHT FACTORY ⧗⧗⧗ FAMILY DAYS
During LIGHT FACTORY: Family Days, taking place 20–22 August 2026, children and adults are invited to immerse themselves together in creative workshops and collaborative artistic activities.
Schedule
Light art exhibition, cultural programmes, exciting sound and light workshops—including Light Sculpture, Sound Lab, Robot Building, and Fabric Kites—along with outdoor games, creative challenges, and many more interactive activities and shared experiences for the whole family at the Inota Thermal Power Plant.
The proximity of Lake Balaton offers a unique opportunity to end a day by the water with an unforgettable cultural experience. As the sun sets, LIGHT FACTORY: The Exhibition comes to life, making it the perfect way to spend a summer evening.
Alongside exploring the installations and the site's remarkable industrial heritage, visitors can enjoy a carefully curated food experience by Pingrumba, arriving from Budapest.
IMPORTANT
Admission to LIGHT FACTORY: Family Days also includes entry to the light art exhibition after 18:00. Please note that some installations can only be fully experienced after dark, from approximately 20:00 onwards.
The exhibition is open to visitors of all ages.
20–22 August 2026
Opening hours: 16:00–24:00
Location: Inota Thermal Power Plant, Várpalota
◉ Workshops & Creative Activities at LIGHT FACTORY: Family Days ◉
Families, children and adults alike are invited to enjoy a wide range of hands-on workshops, including Light Sculpture, Sound Lab, Robot Building, Fabric Kites, theatre and movement workshops, together with many other interactive activities and community experiences.
Light Sculpture
Create translucent panels from recycled plastic using a heat press, then fold and assemble them into simple sculptural forms. A small LED light is placed inside each piece, transforming it into a softly glowing object. Everyone takes home their own handmade light sculpture.
Fabric Kites
Design and build your own kite using durable, wind-resistant fabrics. Complete it with long ribbons and decorate it with paint and patterns to create a unique flying artwork that's as beautiful in the sky as it is on the ground.
Rubber Jewellery
Transform recycled inner tubes into bold contemporary jewellery. Cut, shape and assemble bracelets, earrings or necklaces that are lightweight, wearable and completely unique.
Clay Print Studio
Capture textures from everyday surfaces using clay, then transfer them onto paper or fabric with ink. Familiar patterns become unexpected prints, resulting in original artworks and keepsakes.
Lino Print – INOTA
Discover the art of linocut printing by carving your own design and hand-printing it onto paper or fabric. The process combines precision with experimentation, creating prints that are both reproducible and deeply personal.
Sound Lab
Experiment with simple tools and found objects to create sounds and rhythms. Explore how different materials resonate and how noise can become music through collaborative improvisation.
Blacksmith Workshop
Experience traditional blacksmithing techniques by working with real fire and metal. Learn the basics of hammering and bending while forging your own handcrafted metal object.
Robot Building
Construct playful moving robots from simple components and recycled materials. Learn the fundamentals of mechanical movement while giving your robot its own unique personality.
Copper Jewellery Workshop
Create elegant or organically shaped jewellery from copper sheet and wire. Through cutting, bending and shaping, you'll transform raw materials into wearable handcrafted pieces that will naturally develop a beautiful patina over time.
Clay Cooling Tower
Inspired by the iconic cooling towers of the Inota Power Plant, participants will create a ceramic tower (approx. 13 × 10 cm). Younger children will use coil-building techniques, while older participants will work with slab construction. Each piece features the festival logo and engraved decorative patterns, resulting in a unique souvenir that can be used as a small holder or decorative object.
Catch the Light
Build a simple device that transforms sunlight into colourful projections. Draw and cut your own design, then fill the openings with coloured film to create playful patterns of light. Take home a portable artwork that lets you "paint" with light wherever the sun shines.
INOTA POWER PLANT
The Inota thermal power plant was the largest industrial investment in Hungary in the 1950s, and at its peak, it could have provided street lighting and tram traffic for the whole of Budapest. Its three huge, illustrious cooling towers are not only familiar to anyone who drives to Lake Balaton from the capital, but it is also worth knowing that their novel water-cooled technology was a revolutionary innovation at the time, winning engineers László Heller and László Forgó the Grand Prix at the 1958 Brussels World Exhibition. It was thanks to Inota that these horn-shaped cooling towers soon became widespread throughout the world.
