A magical Christmas experience at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte

This is part of our series of “festive season inspiration”. Today, we’ll be taking a look at how a magnificent 17th century French château has increased visitor numbers year on year with festive decorative lighting.

The story

The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte is a baroque French masterpiece of architecture from the 17th century, located in Maincy, near Melun, southeast of Paris.

The estate was the backdrop to many major historical events and witnessed the tragic eviction of its creator, Nicolas Fouquet, following an extraordinary trial.

It is a popular tourist destination throughout the year and each year the château and the French garden attract visitors from far and wide to see the annual Christmas lighting and decoration.

MK Illumination France has been the château’s preferred festive decorative lighting supplier since 2015. An annual Christmas theme is chosen and MK Illumination’s team starts work on the château’s stone façade and French garden as the festive season approaches. Each year presents a fresh challenge: the château’s historical status means that there are countless technical constraints and specifications that need to be adhered to when installing and placing festive lighting.

Fortunately, the team is familiar with the challenges, thanks to MK Illumination’s global and local experience of creating lighting concepts for a variety of protected and classified buildings, and the team in France is ready each year with a set of adapted solutions created specifically for the château.

The festive extravaganza varies from year to year, and the first things that greets most visitors is the view of the façade glittering with thousands of LEDs, the forest of Christmas trees covered in sparkling lights lining the carriageway, and in the distance, hints of lights in the gardens.

Before they even enter the château, visitors are caught up in the magical festive atmosphere, and many feel as if they’ve stepped into a fairy tale.

The festive lighting that MK Illumination installs for the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte creates a visual experience that few other historical buildings can compete with, even in France. The Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte will be illuminated once again for Christmas 2018.

Find out how festive lighting can enhance your historical attraction

If you’re interested in talking about how festive decorative lighting can enhance your historical attraction or listed building, get in touch for a chat. We’d love to talk.