This year’s Christmas at the Botanics will open to the public on 17 November 2022.
Set within the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), the one-mile trail will include new installations specially created by artists for the event. The new installations will feature alongside what have become festive favourites on the trail including a projection onto the front of Inverleith House and the Christmas Cathedral, a tunnel of sparkling lights.
The 12 illuminated flora called Lilies is new for this year. With each luminous flower measuring one metre tall, the installation located on the Botanics pond has been created by artist Jig Cochrane, founder of Jigantics. This will be the first time that his designs have been on a large scale display in Edinburgh, after showing them at venues around the globe since 1989, before Jigantics was established in 2007. The Lilies make use of low LED lights to help the efficiency of the art, with similar lights being used in both the whimsical Feathers and twinkling Aurora installations.
Along the route will be 14 giant wicker sculptures of Christmas gifts, created by talented artist Woody Fox. Additionally, the Fire Garden will make a triumphant return to the trail this year. Including 120 glowing cans of light creating a warm and cosy illusion and taking the edge off the crisp Edinburgh air, the installation will be accompanied by lanterns of various sizes as provided by Mandylights.
Last year, the trail proved to be a popular event, attracting 90,000 people over its six-week run. This year’s trail runs on selected nights from 17 November until 30 December, with tickets available to buy now.
Kari Coghill, Director of Enterprise and Communication at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh,said: “Now in its sixth year, Christmas at the Botanics has become a milestone moment in the public’s festive calendar. Set against the beauty of the Garden, the newly confirmed light installations will bring something fresh and magical to the trail. Seeing the Garden as you wouldn’t normally is a whole new sensory experience. I am particularly looking forward to seeing the giant lilies, but as ever, there is something for everyone to enjoy during their visit after dark.
“This year’s trail will take visitors past but not into the location of our landmark restoration project, Edinburgh Biomes, now underway to avoid the loss of valuable plant species in our living collection.
Visitors to the trail contribute to our wider work to address the challenges of biodiversity loss and the climate emergency. Profits from ticket sales support our plant research and conservation efforts in Scotland and around the world.
Jonathan Marks, Director at Raymond Gubbay, the division of Sony Music which is promoting the event, said: “Bringing new installations to the trail is exciting – for both new customers and for our regulars. With many festive favourites also returning, visitors can be sure their evening will be an illuminating adventure and lots of fun.”
Tickets for this year’s show are on sale now. www.rbge.org.uk/christmas
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
