Entertainment & Living

Fort Worth Botanic Garden ‘Lightscape’ opens with 1 million lights on walking trail

The black silhouettes of a group of four people contrast a golden arch illuminated with thousands of lights.
The average Lightscape tour takes 1.5 hours but guests do not have a time limit. Lightscape

More than 1 million holiday lights are making a Fort Worth holiday debut.

Lightscape brought custom-designed artistic light installations, tunnels, sculptures and flowers to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden off University Drive. From Nov. 18 to Jan. 8, visitors can explore a one-mile winding walking trail.

A young boy sits on top of his father's shoulders and points up at hundreds of gold lights illuminating in an arch.
Lightscape features more than one million lights along a one-mile walking path. Andrew Ogilvy Lightscape

The event, presented by Bank of America and produced by Sony Music, is the first time Lightscape has come to North Texas after sold-out runs in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago in recent years.

The light show first launched in 2014 at the Royal Botanic Gardens in London and later expanded throughout Europe, the U.S. and Australia. Each trail across the world is designed to highlight the individual location’s unique environment.

Seven pink lily sculptures stand up right and glow against the dark evening sky.
Lily custom-designed installations were curated specifically for Fort Worth’s first lightscape event. Andrew Ogilvy Lightscape

“Bank of America’s culture is based on strengthening the communities where we live and work, and supporting community events and local nonprofits is a key component in this strategy,” Fort Worth Bank of America President Mike Pavell said in a release. “It is our honor to serve as the presenting sponsor of Lightscape at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, as it will bring thousands of people together in the spirit of community during the most beloved time of year.”

In true Texas fashion, the walking path features illuminated bluebonnets and installations curated specifically for Fort Worth including lilies, falling leaves, singing trees, lomandra grasses and roses.

Tickets start at $18 for children ages 3-12 and go up to $28 for adults. A VIP experience package featuring on-site parking and an “arrive anytime” option costs $60. The Botanical Garden is at 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd.

Entry times are available from 5:45 p.m. to 9 p.m. every 15 minutes. Non-VIP guests must select an entry time slot and ride a shuttle into the garden. The average tour lasts 1.5 hours and features food and drink available for purchase at the event.

Hundreds of purple rose light installations are scattered across a dark grass field at night.
Lightscape at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden will open from Nov. 18 to Jan. 8, 2023. Lightscape

“We look forward to transforming the Garden into an enchanting, after-dark spectacular that will surely be the ‘can’t miss’ holiday event of the year,” CEO & president of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden Patrick Newman said in a release.

This story was originally published November 18, 2022 at 9:21 AM.

Jenny Rudolph
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Jenny Rudolph covered North Texas business and economic development at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram from 2022 to 2023. Her position was funded through a philanthropic partnership with the R4 Foundation as part of the Crossroads Lab.
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