Warsaw Unveils New Christmas Illuminations for 2026: Legends of the City in Lights

Warsaw said goodbye last winter to the retro, PRL-themed illuminations that dressed the Royal Route for three seasons. In December 2026 the city switches on an entirely new set of Christmas decorations - and a longer light route than before, the roads authority ZDM and the Warsaw Tourism Organisation have announced.

Legends in lights

The new illuminations draw on Warsaw's legends and history. Next to the traditional tree on Castle Square, figures of the Basilisk and the Stone Bear will appear, with interactive installations telling their stories. The New Town gets the Golden Duck and Wars and Sawa with a rideable carousel, while the Old Town Market Square fills with historical figures - Maria Sklodowska-Curie, Fryderyk Chopin, Stanislaw Moniuszko and Boleslaw Prus among them.

A longer route

For the first time the light route links the historic centre with the New Centre of Warsaw: it now also covers Chmielna, Zlota and Zgoda streets, Plac Bankowy and Plac Centralny. A 21-metre tree with 47,000 LED lights will stand on Plac Centralny, and the facade of the Staszic Palace becomes the backdrop for a new mapping show combining image, light, animation and music. The whole set uses close to 3 million energy-saving LED points and more than 900 decorations.

Three seasons, and lights all year

The city signed its largest illuminations contract to date - nearly 46.8 million zloty with Multidekor - so the new decorations stay with Warsaw until 2029. And one part is already shining: an interactive light garden in Park Swietokrzyski, with botanical and insect motifs and a roughly 50-metre path that reacts to passers-by, opened in mid-October 2026 and stays year-round.