TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) – Halloween may be just around the corner, but some people’s minds are already on Christmas. This year, there’ll be more to see during the holidays.
Right now, the Tucson Botanical Gardens is hard at work on a brand new light show that will feature over a million lights and will be unique to Tucson.
“We’ve hired artisans to create features like this 12-foot tree that is reminiscent of a Cyprus tree. We created luminaria chandeliers that will hang from trees, star showers that will be up in trees, a light tunnel,” said Executive Director Michelle Conklin.
Lights Up! A Festival of Illumination will premiere at the Tucson Botanical Gardens this holiday season. The project has been in the works for about a year and Conklin said there will be nothing else like it in Southern Arizona. It will combine the natural beauty of the gardens with the feeling of Christmas.
“It’s a very unique experience in a really, restful, peaceful way. I think at this time in the world that’s what you need,” she said.
The show is a one mile walk through the gardens. It will run 44 nights with choreographed light numbers in a one-of-a-kind, multi-sensory experience.
“Because it’s such a big show and because we’ve never done it before, there’s just a lot of unknowns,” explained Director of Horticulture Adam Farrell-Wortman.
Right now, volunteers are hard at work getting the show on its feet.
“It’s probably going to take us a solid two months to get the whole property done. We don’t have the luxury of hiring a hundred person crew to come in and get it all done right away. We’re working with living trees and stuff so we have to be more careful with what we’re doing and plan things a little more carefully,” he said.
With all this help from the public, it will make the show even more meaningful as a Tucson holiday tradition.
Tickets are on sale right now. The executive director tells us they are going fast. The show opens the day after Thanksgiving and runs through Jan. 15. You can find more details here.
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