FIRST LOOK: Christmas At The Botanics 2023 is plants inspired winter wonderland
and live on Freeview channel 276
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The mile-long after-dark lights trail, re-imagined for a magnificent seventh year, celebrates the natural beauty of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh with spectacular new installations and returning favourites, by artists local to Edinburgh and from around the world.
Huge twinkling dandelion seeds disperse above the heads of visitors.
A meadow of 100 one-metre-high crocuses burst with light and colour. There's a lawn of luminous Pampas Grass, a field of 2,000 glowing white roses and a garden of giant neon flowers, sparkling against the night sky.
The Botanic's treasured and towering 120-metre Beech hedge has also been spectacularly lit, with the changing colours of the rainbow.
And all this just for starters.
Six huge dragonflies, created by Edinburgh studio based artist Martha Ellis, appear to defy gravity, suspended over the serene Botanic Pond.
Instagram selfie-favourites are back including the Christmas Cathedral and Fire Garden. Santa makes an appearance and visitors will be wowed by a brand new animated projection, inspired by holly, ivy, mistletoe and vines, on the front of Inverleith House.
The trail - now open for 37 selected nights, from November 16 to December 30 - weaves through 72 acres and tells the venue's story, with some of the ticket money assisting its work, to save the planet and plants.
Raoul, Director of Horticulture and Visitor Experience at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, said of the Christmas make-over: "If you imagine being in a Harry Potter movie and seeing the wizards playing with nature - this is what you get.
"You're walking around from little world to little world and get these sort of cinematic experiences. The garden is safe, it's protected. You're away from the hustle and bustle of traffic and the noise of regular life. You just indulge yourself in this kind of quiet magic. It is lovely.
"It's about making memories and that's what I love about it most.
"This kickstarts Christmas and transforms the garden into a magical fairy tale, where you get horticultural brilliance combined with lighting technology.
"It's off the scale this year. The best I've ever seen it, a real knockout and will fill your heart with Christmas joy. I know that sounds a bit cliched, but this is nature on steroids, a wow experience."
Christmas at the Botanics, presented in partnership with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and creative producer Culture Creative, is one of nine illuminated trails staged across the UK by leading events promoter Raymond Gubbay Limited, a division of Sony Music.
LINKS
Facebook: @mychristmastrails
Instagram: @mychristmastrails