Tuesday 11 October 2022

Christmas at Kew returns for 10th year

The UK’s original festive light trail returns to dazzle London's Kew Gardens, bringing magical new installations for the tenth anniversary this Christmas. 

From Wednesday 16 November 2022 to Sunday 8 January 2023 (advance booking only, tickets are selling fast, so book as soon as you can!)

2022 marks ten years of Christmas at Kew, the first light trail of its kind in the entire UK.

New installations include suspended illuminations and optical illusions, featuring over a million twinkling lights along a 2.7km trail.

Highlights include the iconic Palm House projections, Starry Night featuring thousands of twinkling lights, and ‘Illusion Hole’ by UxU Studio.

Visitors can indulge in toasty treats with delicious seasonal street food, mulled wine and hot chocolate, or a Christmas dinner at The Botanical Brasserie.

This November, see Kew Gardens in a whole new light as the UNESCO World Heritage landscape glitters with millions of festive lights with the return of Christmas at Kew.

Since the inaugural Christmas trail in 2013, this unique, world-famous event has paved the way for festive displays across the country each winter, cementing light trails as a firm festive favourite in the run up to Christmas. 

Marking ten years since the original festive trail at Kew Gardens, this year’s display features a host of seasonal favourites alongside mesmerizing new light installations. 

Planning begins more than a year in advance, to ensure this celebration of nature by night brings Kew’s incredible natural landscape to life for visitors of all ages.

New installations for 2022

Taking inspiration from Kew’s horticultural collection and the changing seasons, creative studio NOVAK return to Kew with an immersive animation projected onto Holly Walk. Elsewhere, visitors can wander through thousands of twinkling lights in ArtAV’s magical Starry Night, featured at Kew Gardens for the first time. 

Fun and magical, 16 floating UV feathers by Pyrite Creative appear as if from nowhere amongst the trees, while elsewhere in the canopies, LuminARTi’s Willow Hives elegantly illuminate the surrounding natural forms, highlighting the spectacular scenery at Kew.

Light Art Collection returns with ‘Illusion Hole’ by UxU Studio, a geometrically arranged pattern situated on the Lake in which visitors will experience the fluidity and malleability of moving light. Visitors are presented with a thrilling optical illusion as water formed by light appears to flow into an unknown abyss as they enjoy the trail around the gardens.

Festive favourites

Wander beneath colourful canopies and bushes draped in sparkle, futuristic neon trees and branches illuminated with stars as you enter a botanical world filled with seasonal cheer. Many of Kew’s 12,000 trees and other botanical treasures from Kew’s living collection will be accentuated along the new route, allowing visitors to experience nature from a new perspective whilst reinforcing the essential role that plants play in all of our lives.

Creative studio Pitaya return to Christmas at Kew, lighting up the woodland with their ethereal installation ‘Floraison’, luminous poppies appear to have blown away in the breeze, clinging to branches high above visitors’ heads. Elsewhere, the ever-popular Fire Garden returns for 2022, and Kew’s famous Christmas Cathedral will once again create a dazzling world filled with thousands of fairy lights, offering the perfect Instagram opportunity. Visitors will be entranced as a series of breath-taking projections dance across the surface of Kew’s iconic Palm House and adjacent lake, set to a memorable soundtrack of much-loved Christmas classics.

To add an extra touch of magic to the Christmas at Kew experience, visitors can book a delicious traditional Christmas dinner at The Botanical Brasserie to enjoy with loved ones. Tasty treats from a selection of independent street food vendors are also available along the route, including spiced cider, waffles, mulled wine, or hot chocolate to keep you comfortably warm.

Says Sandra Botterell, Director of Marketing and Commercial Enterprise at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: “Christmas at Kew is always magical, but this year it is even more special as we celebrate ten years of this wonderful light trail. 

"We can’t wait to welcome our visitors back to the Gardens to experience the return of our much-loved light installations, alongside exciting new additions, all of which take inspiration from Kew’s incredible collections. As the first festive light trail of its kind, Christmas at Kew really is a seasonal spectacular unlike any other.”

Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex, sees the return of its own enchanting winter lantern trail for 2022. Glow Wild promises a brand-new route, with 11 bespoke installations and over 1000 paper lanterns handmade by local volunteers all celebrating the incredible colour spectrum of the natural world.

Visit https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/christmas.

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