Throughout the course of its existence, the Eiffel Tower has been host to lighting effects of a festive nature. Through continual renewal of its sources of artificial illumination, the Tower has benefited from the latest innovations in lighting equipment from the very beginning – from gas to electricity, incandescent lamps to neon, passing from sodium to high-pressure, and most recently LEDs.

April, 5th 1997: The 1,000 days to the new millennium countdown display is placed on the facade of the second floor facing Trocadero. From the bottom to the second floor, the Tower was bathed in green light, to represent the pitch, with two vertical beams of light and a cross-bar for the goal. A giant ball with a span of 13 metres was suspended from the second floor, approximately 80 metres from the ground bearing the official logo very clearly lit up. Lastly, a giant 120 m2 screen was set up on the first floor facing the Seine to display the results of the matches. Visitors from all over the world and Parisians alike could also enjoy the sparkling lights and the beacon, which continued to function throughout the whole operation. June 13, 2016: The Eiffel Tower paid homage to the victims of the homophobic shooting in Orlando by gracing its structure with a rainbow flag.

Sparkling Moments in the History of the Eiffel Tower

Because the Tower’s usual equipment was not designed for special illuminations (colors, flags, messages), these generally require external lighting to be brought in for each occasion. January, 24th-29th 2004: Celebration of Chinese New Year: the Eiffel Tower is dressed in red! For the Chinese New Year celebrations, a clever set of exterior projectors bathed Paris’ most famous monument in scarlet light. This began on Saturday 24th January at the end of a parade organised on the Champs-Elysées, during an illumination event in front of the French and Chinese Ministers for Culture and the Mayors of Paris and Peking. The display was left in place until the morning of the 29th January (5 days) and could be seen every evening from 5 pm to 7.30 am! This red lighting effect on the Eiffel Tower was produced in collaboration with EDF. September 28, 2017: To celebrate the milestone of 300 million visitors to the Tower since its construction, we put on a light show entitled “Thanks 300 million”.

Every October: Each year, the Eiffel Tower is lit up in pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, also known as Pink October, to support breast cancer research and those battling the disease.It was André Citroën who brought the first decorative lighting display to the Tower, composed of 250,000 colored lamps. As an ad campaign, the name Citroën sculpted in lights adorned three sides of the Tower, visible 30 kilometers away. Christmas: The Tower becomes a Christmas tree with the arrangement of 30,000 lamps installed on the monument. June, 21th 2003: The Eiffel Tower is once again covered in diamond-sparkling lights that are displayed every hour on the hour for five minutes, from dusk until 2 am (1 am in winter). From September, 7th to October, 20th 2007: Rugby is Honoured, for the occasion of the World Rugby Cup hosted by France, the Eiffel Tower adopted the colours of rugby