Torchlight

Luxembourg City has released its programme for National Day, and it is, as always, a two-day affair. The official holiday falls on 23 June, but the real spectacle begins the evening before.[1]

Monday 22 June opens with the changing of the guard at the Grand Ducal Palace at 4pm. The main event starts after dark: a torchlight procession through the city centre featuring some 2'800 participants, setting off from Place du Theatre at 9.30pm. Grand Duke Guillaume and Grand Duchess Stephanie will be welcomed at Place Guillaume II by Mayor Lydie Polfer and the municipal executive board. At 11pm, fireworks will be launched from the Adolphe Bridge.[2]

Across the city, concerts and events will fill the squares. The main stage at the Glacis, City Sounds, will host six artists starting from 8.30pm, including Dutch DJ Nicky Romero.

Tuesday 23 June, the actual national holiday, begins formally at 10am with a ceremony at the Philharmonie. A 21-gun salute at the Fetschenhof follows at 11am, and the traditional military parade marches down Avenue de la Liberte at noon. The Te Deum at Notre-Dame Cathedral takes place at 4.30pm in the presence of the Grand Ducal family.[3]

For families, Spillfest returns to the Kinnekswiss from 10am to 6pm with games and workshops for children. The Glacis stage resumes at 5.30pm with free concerts. Luxembourg's Eurovision 2024 representative Tali performs at 6.30pm, and OneRepublic closes the evening at 9pm.[4]

Getting around will require some planning. The usual road closures will be in effect across the city centre on both days. Park & Ride shuttle buses will run from the outskirts, and tram services will operate almost normally, except on the evening of 22 June between Hamilius and Place de Metz from 6.45pm until shortly after midnight, suspended for the fireworks.[5]

National Day in Luxembourg has always had a particular quality. It is not quite a independence day, not quite a birthday. The Grand Duke's official birthday was historically celebrated on 23 June regardless of the actual date, first under Jean, then under Henri, and now under Guillaume. The date is an accident of calendar, yet the celebration has become genuinely national. Two thousand eight hundred people carrying fire through the streets of a city of one hundred and thirty thousand is, by any standard, a remarkable proportion. The Adolphe Bridge, which carries trams and cars across the Petrusse Valley on any other evening, becomes a platform for explosives. The Grand Ducal Palace, normally a backdrop for tourist photographs, hosts a ceremony that has remained essentially unchanged for decades.

The full programme is available on the Ville de Luxembourg website. If you are in the country next weekend, the torchlight procession alone is worth the trip.