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The Lichtjesroute (; "Route of Lights") is a festival held every autumn in Eindhoven of the southern Netherlands. It starts with a parade on 18 September, celebrating the liberation of Eindhoven during World War II on the same date in 1944. The Lichtjesroute is celebrated not only to commemorate the liberation, but also to create an illusion of "fairytales in light".
After 1947, the Foundation for Liberation Commemoration (Stichting Bevrijdingsherdenking) took over coordination of all festival activities. The original day of lights was transformed into a "route of lights". In several places throughout the city, dubbed Focal Points or Fire Points (Brandpunten), celebration lighting illuminated the area for four days, between 20:00 and 24:00 each day.
In the following years, the number of Fire Points grew steadily. By 1969, 25 years after the liberation, the route had grown to a length of no less than . This would be the last year the Lichtjesroute was celebrated for more than a decade.
In 1984, a number of enthusiasts decided it was time to give the Lichtjesroute a new life. Through a mailing, a thousand corporations were asked for financial support, and the local media called for volunteers to help make the new Lichtjesroute a reality.
Along the route, various frames with ornaments made from lights are mounted onto lamp posts. The ornaments depict various objects and animals; some have World War II–themed imagery. Ornaments are usually grouped by common themes—all animals are located together, for example. The placement of the ornaments changes each year, but in some places, the same ornaments are shown each year. For example, Halvemaanstraat ("Half-moon Street") is always decorated with half-moon crescent shapes. The Vaartbroek area always has ornaments of astrological signs, because the streets there are named after characters from Greek mythology and Roman mythology. In Witte Dorp ("White Village"), there are no ornaments—but red, white, and blue lamps, symbolic of the flag of the Netherlands, are placed on the bay windows, where they shine onto the white houses.
Special resting places are designated on the route, where people can stop for a snack or walk around; one such area is Hendrik de Keyzerplein, a square and small park in a residential area. These points are usually the busiest on the route, and as a result, traffic jams are common there.
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