Redding Garden of Lights Brings a ‘One Million Light Experience’ to Northern California
Brought to you by Visit Redding
The Holiday season is about traditions. Whether you decorate your house the day after Thanksgiving, cut your own Christmas tree down with the whole family or open presents in wee morning hours of December 25th, every family is proud to enjoy their own tradition during our favorite holiday.
This year, a new tradition is coming to Northern California, and it includes a million lights.
The Redding Garden of Lights will take place right next to the Sundial Bridge in the McConnell Botanical Gardens in Redding, California from November 27 through December 27. The inaugural event will include a 10-acre walk-through experience which includes one million LED lights which are animated and synchronized to music.
The experience, operated by the Turtle Bay Exploration Park, is the first of its kind in NorCal.
“There really isn’t anything like this in the region,” said Seth McGaha, Marketing Manager at Turtle Bay. “We wanted to create a new tradition that families in the whole North State can look forward to.”
Visitors to the Redding Garden of Lights will enter through the Holiday Village where they can enjoy food, drinks and hot chocolate provided by Mosaic Restaurant, as well as a holiday gift shop, a fire pit with s’mores and train rides. Then the directional path will take you on a holiday journey like no other in the Botanical Gardens, with much of the constructed light themes representing Christmas traditions, along with themes in line with Turtle Bay’s mission, including wildlife.
The event is part of a 2-year effort from the Redding City Identity Project, which hopes to bring new positive efforts to the area following the devastating Carr Fire in 2018. Other efforts from the project can be seen all around the city, including the new downtown art installation Umbrella Alley and “Redding’s Ale Trail.”
Extensive efforts have been made to bring the best possible experience to the Garden of Lights. Organizers visited 6 different botanical gardens around the country to develop ideas for the event, eventually choosing Tres Fromme Design, a leading designer in botanical gardens and seasonal displays, to curate the event. Installation of the exhibit has been happening since July.
During the experience, visitors are encouraged to take photos and videos with the hashtag #ReddingLights, as well as geotagging Turtle Bay Exploration Park. Due to current Covid-19 protocols in the region, visitors are required to wear masks in the entry, but not while walking through the Garden of Lights.
Although walk-up tickets will be available to purchase, visitors are encouraged to by their tickets online before attending for the event to avoid maximum capacity (tickets are $5 cheaper online). To purchase your ticket the the Redding Garden of Lights, go here.
If you’re visiting from out of town, you can book one of the many great hotels in the area from the Visit Redding directory or you can book with the Sheraton Hotel at the Sundial Bridge, a partner of the event.
Enjoy the holiday season in Northern California with the Redding Garden of Lights! For more information, go to reddinggardenoflights.org.
