Thousands Of Fireflies Illuminated The Circle Of Light Festival

Visitors to Moscow’s 4th Annual Circle of Light Festival were treated to an installation filled with the majestic, glowing bugs.

by Sami Emory

October 17, 2014, 10:25pm

Images via

Glowing greenly through the crisp October air at Moscow’s 4th Annual Circle of Light Festival, thousands of captured insects inadvertently stole the audience's heart. While Trap of Fireflies formed only a small part of the prolific Russian celebration of light art—an occasion which we wrote about earlier this week—it was a display that many of this year’s 3 million visitors will remember, if only for its “party-favors”: at the close of the exhibition, curators disassembled the glittering web of flies, and gifted each member of the crowd with their very own phosphorescent pet, complete with a comprehensive set of guidelines for the creature’s care.

For the duration of the five-day festival, Trap of Fireflies’ radiant little workers lent their light to the VDNKH Central Alley, once abandoned exhibition center that is now in the throes of a complete refurbishment. In this midst of this monumental effort, the installation’s uncomplicated elements—ten modules and thousands of luminous beetles—provided a source of pure aesthetic pleasure. For this, and for their nifty beetle souvenirs, we tip our hats Trap of Fireflies as one of the true highlights of the year’s most light-centric festival.