What’s the biggest “wow” at GardenFest of Lights this year?

Hands down, it has to be the peacock.

Strutting his stuff in front of the Conservatory in the Sunken Garden, the peacock boasts more than 4,000 lights in vivid colors. Envisioned by the Garden’s executive director Frank Robinson and brought to life by operations assistant Justin Brown, the peacock knows how good he looks. If you look carefully—you can catch him looking at his own reflection in the pool in the Sunken Garden.

Hard to believe he used to be a topiary figure in the old Children’s Garden!

Not to be left out, the frogs in the Four Seasons Garden are also enjoying a little GardenFest magic. “Bubble” lights have replaced the water in their fountain.

(Many thanks to Frank Robinson for sharing his photos for this blog entry.)

If you’ve been to GardenFest this year—what’s been your favorite feature?

Beth Monroe is public relations director at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

Thanks very much for your feedback!

One of the things that makes GardenFest of Lights special is that the show is different each year. Also, since we’re a botanical garden we try to follow a botanical theme rather than an entirely holiday one. That’s why you’ll see forms of flowers, butterflies, insects, etc. instead of “waving Santas.” Even the colors are sometimes a departure from the traditional red and green.

GardenFest’s appeal (or lack thereof)is truly in the eye of the beholder. It’s interesting that every year we have a handful of people who say “there just doesn’t seem to be as many lights as the year before”—even though we keep adding more and more!

Who knows what we’ll do next year...the discussion has already started…

We loved the peacock, but thought that there were many FEWER lights than in previous years.  What happened to all of the large glowing light balls?  We thought the fire pit was a nice addition too.  We also thought it could become a MAJOR attraction in Richmond if only the pond would freeze for ice skating.  How wonderful would that be??

I was terribly dissappointed in the lights. This was my first time attending. I don’t know the history behind it all, but other than the fact my 5 year old had a great time running around and roasting a marshmallow, I thought it was expensive and awful. No Christmas Spirit was there at all. Mostly purple and teal lights. What is up with that? Am I missing something? Oh yeah, there were a couple of candy canes thrown in. Whoopdie! Music in the air might would have helped. There were alot of displays that you wondered what they were. I thought the frog scene was a pot of gold and someone else there said it was a pond. I guess I’ll never know. We may have both been wrong. The Christmas tree was nice on the inside as was the train, but in our group of 14, I don’t think anyone was impressed.

I’m always looking forward to reading your blog. So I’m very happy to see your blog entry again!

Garden Fest seems fantastic! I have once visited Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in autumn, where colored leaves were very impressive. The garden in winter also seems gorgeous! The pictures make me as “happy as a clam!”

Post Your Comments: