Lucerne Festival Ark Nova

Ark Nova on the grounds of the lakeside Lido meadow (visualization) © Lucerne Festival

One of the most spectacular projects during Michael Haefliger’s tenure as Executive and Artistic Director has never been seen at Lucerne Festival. When a devastating earthquake and tsunami ravaged the Tohoku region of northern Japan around the Fukushima nuclear power plant in March 2011, Haefliger launched Lucerne Festival Ark Nova. This mobile, inflatable concert hall represented a “new ark” that gave the uprooted survivors of the disaster fresh hope through music. The Indian-British
sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor and the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki created the spectacular design, which resembles an oversized snail shell, albeit aubergine-olored. The opening took place in Matsushima in September 2013; in the years following, concert series in Sendai, Fukushima, and Tokyo were given, each combining Japanese musicians and international stars.

And now it is opening its doors for a fifth edition. When Michael Haefliger concludes his term of office this year, Lucerne Festival Ark Nova will moor for the first time on Lake Lucerne from 4 to 14 September — more precisely, in Lido Park in front of the Verkehrshaus (Swiss Museum of Transport). The story of the lively cultural exchange between Japan and Switzerland is enriched by a new chapter.

Thu 04.09. – Sun 14.09.
Lucerne Festival Ark Nova
Lido Park in front of the Swiss Museum of Transport
A detailed program will be published in the middle of May 2025.

A collaborative project of Lucerne Festival with the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne