Overview
Toerisme Oostende:
Lichtgolf, a city-wide interactive tale
Client
Toerisme Oostende
Services
Exhibitions
Immersive Experiences
Expertise
Creative Direction
Augmented Reality
Immersive Events
Industry
City marketing
Project
synopsis
When the City of Oostende asked us to help shape their ‘Lichtgolf’ light festival, we were immediately drawn to the idea: a nocturnal walk through the city, guided by stories, light, projection, and interaction. The concept already lived in the imagination of the city; our task was to bring that vision to life with projection, 3D animations, and interactive experiences that would feel magical yet grounded in the soul of Oostende.
So we designed, animated, developed, and illuminated. And together we turned the city into a glowing, living storybook for thousands of visitors.
Challenge
Designing a cohesive experience across seven very different locations is not exactly plug-and-play. Each stop had its own architecture, its own constraints, its own personality. Each technology behaves differently and needs its own pipeline, its own calibration, and its own way of interacting with the story. Our task was to make all these systems feel effortless and connected, so visitors experienced not the tech behind it, but a single, flowing narrative shining across the city.
Experience
Seven stops each celebrate a different facet of Oostende — its people, folklore, sea, and landmarks. Each stop is accompanied by audio fragments written by Studio Sandy, telling the story of the young beachcomber Jutta as she explores the city’s streets, parks, and harbour, encountering friends like Noël and Mr. Plankton and sharing whimsical reflections, discoveries, and stories of life on the coast. The fragments are delivered through headphones and voiced by renowned Belgian actors such as Manu Van Acker, Titus De Voogdt, Maria Dorchain, Isabelle Van Hecke, and Patricia Kargbo.
Every stop combined storytelling with technology in a way that made the city itself come alive. In the bustling Adolf Buylstraat, the walk opened with a warm, inviting light installation that set the tone for the rest of the route. Soft, glowing textures illuminated the shopping street, creating a welcoming threshold into the world of Lichtgolf. It acted as the atmospheric prologue of the journey — a gentle transition from the everyday city into a more poetic, illuminated version of Oostende.
From there, visitors moved to the Vistrap, where we developed an application that visitors accessed by scanning a QR code and send in messages in real time, which then rippled across the building as glowing, animated waves. Every message became part of a living, collaborative “sea” that anyone could dive into.
The route then led to the Sint-Petrus-Pauluskerk, transformed into a mesmerizing light spectacle with 3D animations that danced across the church’s architecture. Every column, arch, and surface became part of a flowing, kinetic canvas, turning the historic church into a breathtaking, immersive projection that captivated visitors.
At the Mercator, the iconic three-masted ship became the canvas for a dynamic light installation inspired by sonar waves and maritime navigation. Pulsing projections travelled across the hull, creating rhythmic patterns that echoed the movement of the sea and the signals used to explore it.
In the Leopoldpark, we created a 3D animation video projected onto a 10x10 meter waterscreen. A giant whale glided across the scene, carrying miniature moving city landmarks, while schools of fish and flocks of birds animated the environment. The combination of motion, light, and scale created a truly magical atmosphere, turning the park into a dreamlike, otherworldly space where visitors felt suspended between city and sea.
At Kursaal, we created an interactive underwater world in Unreal Engine, projected on the building using a deepscreen effect. Visitors scanned a QR code with their phones to start the experience and could reveal a hidden message by pushing a meter to the right frequency. Even without interaction, the underwater world remained visually stunning — a fully immersive, responsive environment blending light, motion, and 3D design.
The Ensorhuis formed the celebratory final chapter of the route. Through AI-generated animation, we projected onto the building a vibrant reinterpretation of the story of Jutta, turning its façade into a lively, shifting tapestry of colour and motion.
Impact
Each stop offered a different way of interacting with the story. Our task was to make all these systems feel effortless and connected, so visitors experienced not the tech behind it, but a single, flowing narrative shining across the city. Together, these stops form a seamless, city-wide experience: a winter walk where the city becomes a canvas, the sea becomes a storyteller, and the audience becomes part of the tale.
Lichtgolf was an immediate success, drawing widespread attention and enthusiasm from both locals and visitors. The festival quickly sold out its first days, with demand remaining high throughout the season. The festival delighted audiences of all ages and reinforced Oostende’s reputation as a vibrant, creative destination that attracts cultural tourists from near and far.
Collaboration
A project of this scale is always a balancing act between storytelling, technique, and urban reality but Oostende embraced the experiment wholeheartedly, and with the team running a tight ship (no pun intended), the result was a light festival that didn’t just decorate the city — it transformed it into a narrative experience. One where visitors didn’t simply look, but interacted, wandered, wondered, and connected.
A heartfelt thank you to the City of Oostende for the trust they placed in us — especially Pieter Hens and Axel Goudesone, whose vision, guidance, and confidence were essential in shaping Lichtgolf.
Special thanks to Beam Inc. and Spacemakers, whose hardware solutions and expertise in installation, mapping, projection, and sound were essential in bringing Lichtgolf to life. Their support across the different locations helped ensure the entire route felt seamless, immersive, and technically flawless.
It was a pleasure collaborating on a project that illuminated the city in every sense of the word.
"Yondr was exactly the partner we were looking for. They stood by our side throughout the project, offered creative input within our budget, and made the most of it. On top of that, they always went the extra mile in terms of commitment and engagement."
– Pieter Hens - Marketing & Event Manager - Oostende
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