Peace Tower Lit Up Again

The Peace Tower was lit again last night, and will remain lit at night until December 8. Fewer people were in attendance this year than the year previous.

RÚV reports some 1,500 went out to Viðey Island last night, just off the coast of the Reykjavík peninsula, to witness the turning-on of Yoko Ono’s Peace Tower. Last year, about 2,100 people watched the tower get turned on.

Lit up for the ninth year running, the Peace Tower is always turned on on this day, which marks the birthday of John Lennon. The tower remains lit during evening and night conditions until December 8, the day of his assassination. Lennon would have turned 75 years old yesterday.

The Peace Tower has, however, been turned on for other occasions as well. It was lit up in August 2011, for example, in response to Anders Breivik’s terrorist attack on Norway. The tower has also been the site of more joyful occasions, such as a summer solstice tea party held last year.

“[T]his artwork is planned in 24 hours of daylight, when the light tower of the Imagine Peace Tower cannot shine in its usual brilliance,” artist Adam Wojcinski told the press of the tea party at the time. “This communicates the message that peace is not passive – peace is an action that we all must consciously decide to make, in our own light.”