In line with the new around Tier 4 restrictions, Christmas at Kew will re-open on 30 December, staying open until 24 January
Clare Denning gives us the highlights of this magical outdoor exhibition
Last week, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a much sought-after ticket to the Christmas light show at Kew Gardens, and it certainly exceeded my expectations. I went along anticipating a lovely set of twinkly lights on a few trees and a couple of candles, but I was so very much mistaken! Christmas at Kew is a parade of stunning artistry. Every year, a new design is brought to life, so thankfully even if you can’t get your hands on tickets this Christmas, I won’t be spoiling the surprise.
Let me walk you through the trail.
Like an exhibition in a gallery, the light fixtures are ordered to achieve maximum awe. They start sweet – giant snowflakes in the trees – and build upto an eye-watering, take-your-breath-away finale. Highlights include the tropical greenhouse rock show, the cathedral of lights and the giant waterfall in the Palm House pond. In 2020, we’ve discovered many things we didn’t know were possible. The light show at Kew is so technologically advanced and creatively inspired, it falls into that same category. Only it’ll make you cry with joy, not despair: it’s the perfect antidote to the lockdown blues.
Festival vibes
The whole experience feels like a festival, with the trickle of huts serving refreshments along the way and your loved ones by your side. It was my first time out-out in a while and I left the show feeling revitalised. The food, the music, the lights all combined gorgeously to create an arena of light, love and merriness. Unlike other festive events, Christmas at Kew doesn’t feel like a commercial ploy. It has the charm of a winter wonderland but without the plastic decorations, the extortionate rides and the protracted sugar rush.
The Kew Gardens are worth a visit all year round. In 2003, they were classed as a UNESCO World Heritage site for their long-standing contribution to botanical research. These facets of the gardens are celebrated in the light show, which seems to travel the world with every display. The magnificent show at Temperate House, where the lights dance across the glass walls like ballerinas and silhouette the tropical trees inside, is a perfect example of this.
And while strolling the gardens, it’s amazing to think that just a few metres below ground lie a network of tunnels. Those tunnels are filled with 2.4 billion seeds from all over the world, kept in sub-zero temperatures. The fact that the gardens are the ultimate act of conservation helps us to imagine a future for festivities and gatherings that come at less of a cost to the environment. The event is fully socially distanced for those worried about endangering themselves or their loved ones and the staff are hugely kind and spirited.
One of my absolute favourites
Among the best of the exhibits have to be the floating dandelions and twinkling cherry gardens. Yet, there is nothing more spectacular than the finale. Imagine walking through the forest to a wide open pond overlooked by a gorgeous glass mansion. The sky is a bright inky black and the backdrop to an extravagant waterfall shooting up in the air. Upon this screen of water, a movie of shadows is projected with Christmas melodies gaining momentum in the background. The shadow figures form crowds: meeting, laughing and hugging among the trees. Then, zooming in, the lights centre on a young couple to show a man proposing to a woman and the two excitedly embracing. The lights spiral and the figures merge like ink on a page as the waterfall dissipates and feliz navidad chimes in the background.
This is my Love Actually of outdoor exhibitions
Such beautiful scenes made me feel that Kew Gardens’ Christmas lights is the ‘love actually’ of all outdoor exhibitions. It takes you on an emotional journey with a fabulous climax to bring you home at the end. Each step on the light trail has its own story and is tied to the next by a mix of artistry and technical capacity I hadn’t thought possible. It’s a light show about love, but set in nature.
Look out for the lights this winter or the next, with standard tickets starting at £19.50: https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/christmas.
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