Smogen, the “Island of Light”, ends its summer season with an art light festival that last year drew 30,000 attendees. While most coastal Swedish towns have rolled up the carpet for the year by mid-August, Smogen is going strong until the mid-September festival. All the restaurants are still open and the docks and streets are packed with people.

We spent a night at the docks there, touring the beautiful island, taking in the light festival and enjoying the late-night carnival atmosphere. We’d been looking forward to the festival for weeks and really enjoyed the displays, created by light artists around the world.

Below are trip highlights from September 13, 2019 at Smogen, Sweden. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.

Fisketangen Position: 58°21.07’N, 11°16.30’E Traditional red boathouses at the town of Fisketangen en route to Smogen from Gullmarsfjorden.

Dirona Position: 58°21.19’N, 11°13.48’E Dirona moored at Smogen Hamn.

Paths Position: 58°21.20’N, 11°13.41’E Like many fishing towns, the houses in Smogen were built pretty much where people wanted to put them, without rigid city planning or consideration for roads. The result is narrow, winding paths between the buildings that are fun to explore.

Boathouses Position: 58°21.33’N, 11°13.04’E Colorful boathouses at the head of Smogen Hamn.

Ray’s Position: 58°21.19’N, 11°13.59’E The day is windy, but warm and sunny. With the buildings providing wind shelter, the patios are full of patrons out enjoying the nice day. Jennifer, wearing pink, is seated slightly left of center at Ray’s.

Birds Position: 58°21.19’N, 11°13.59’E Small birds stealing food from the plates next door. We were surprised not to see any seagulls in the area.

Sea Lodge Position: 58°21.27’N, 11°13.81’E Looking northeast past the Sea Lodge hotel and restaurant in one of the many small harbours on Smogen.

Smogens Church Position: 58°21.35’N, 11°13.49’E Smogens Church, built in a neo-Gothic style in 1905.

Lookout Position: 58°21.43’N, 11°13.40’E Unusual lookout with a covered staircase joining two small rooms. Perhaps this was a pilot lookout, or maybe someone just decided the were going to have a view house.

Water Tower Position: 58°21.46’N, 11°13.34’E Smogen’s striking water tower, perched high on a hill, is a prominent landmark.

Projector Position: 58°21.46’N, 11°13.34’E Massive projector, one of three, aimed onto the Smogen water tower for tonights “Island of Light” light art festival.

View Position: 58°21.46’N, 11°13.33’E Enjoying the view from a bench near the Smogen water tower.

Stairs Position: 58°21.46’N, 11°13.31’E We’d walked up to the water tower by road, but found some stairs back down to sea level.

Looking Back Position: 58°21.55’N, 11°12.95’E Looking back to the Smogen water tower as we head out to the windswept western part of the island.

Bridge Position: 58°21.57’N, 11°12.90’E Smogen has some excellent trails with beautifully-built bridges, boardwalks, causeways and stairs.

Seascape Position: 58°21.60’N, 11°12.56’E Enjoying the seascape on a small islet off the northwest tip of Smogen. We’re being buffeted a bit in 20-30-knot winds.

Causeway Position: 58°21.54’N, 11°12.78’E Wonderful causeway on one of Smogen’s many trails.

Boardwalk Position: 58°21.51’N, 11°12.91’E We returned back to town following a boardwalk hung off a cliff, leading to a saltwater swimming pool in the distance.

The Barn Position: 58°21.23’N, 11°13.49’E An excellent dinner under the heaters on the terrace at The Barn in Smogen.

Light Dance Position: 58°21.21’N, 11°13.67’E After dinner, we spent the rest walking around town to check out the displays in the “Island of Light” festival. People were pouring into town from all directions—last year’s festival drew 30,000 attendees. This is a Light Dance performed by local students.

Asalto Position: 58°21.45’N, 11°13.37’E Daniel Canogar’s Asalto, projected onto the Smogen water tower, depicts locals “climbing” up the tower sides. Canogar has exhibited similar work before, but this is the first time in 360°.

Global Rainbow Position: 58°21.43’N, 11°13.44’E This is the 10th anniversary of Yvette Mattern’s Global Rainbow that has been featured at light shows around the world.

Flashlines Position: 58°21.38’N, 11°13.01’E Flashlines by Pascal Kulcsar.

Glorie-Bankar Position: 58°21.36’N, 11°12.98’E Glorie-Bankar by Mikael Richter.

Perception of Time and Space Position: 58°21.39’N, 11°12.94’E One of the three parts of Lena Mattson’s Perception of Time and Space.

Harbour Position: 58°21.35’N, 11°12.97’E Looking east to the head of Smogen Hamn, colorfully lit for the festival.

Ljushus Position: 58°21.31’N, 11°12.99’E Ljushus by Mikael Richter.

Excerpts from the Volumes Position: 58°21.31’N, 11°12.99’E Cooper and Gorfer’s Excerpts from the Volumes projected on one of the steep cliffs above Smogen Hamn.

Lit Path Position: 58°21.20’N, 11°12.97’E Walking a lit path through a crevice at the southern end of Smogen to the next display.

Flashlines Position: 58°21.24’N, 11°12.97’E Flashlines, by Pascal Kulcsar, projected onto the rocks.

Frequensis Position: 58°21.17’N, 11°12.93’E We particularly enjoyed Kari Kola’s massive Frequensis display of light and sound. This is a portion of it, projected onto the rocks. If you look carefully, you can see how crowded it is in the area. Thousands of people were out enjoying the show. It felt a bit like Hallowe’en with so many people out wandering the streets at night in random directions.

Underworld Position: 58°21.21’N, 11°13.38’E Underworld by Aleksandra Stratimonovic.

Temple Position: 58°21.19’N, 11°13.64’E Cecilia Omalm’s Temple.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise. On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.