Trail of Christmas Splendor

Some things appeal to all of us in a primal basic way.  Water, fire, and light all have the power to draw us to them and keep us spellbound.  That fascination explains the outsized success of the Chicago Botanical Garden’s night time illuminated trail, Lightscape.  With so many attributes to recommend it, the attraction has experienced sold old crowds since it opened on November 12^th and will likely remain extremely popular until its closes on January 2^nd.   

An outdoor trail meandering 1.25 miles through one of the region’s most beautiful natural landscapes, this lightshow uses size, expanse, nature and darkness to inspire awe and incite the imagination.  Conceived and produced by Sony Music subsidiary Raymond Gubbay, Ltd., with assistance from Culture Creative, a British based entertainment consortium, the concept has proven extraordinarily successful throughout Europe, Australia and the United States.  In addition to similar attractions at Kew Gardens in London and New York’s Brooklyn Botanical Garden, there are twenty other My Christmas Trail and Lightscape events held every year; including Houston, Texas.

Some features are common to many of the installations wherever they’re featured.   The Winter Cathedral, a massive arched canopy of lights that mimic the ancient Gothic cathedrals of Europe is one of them and makes an appropriately spectacular entrance to the show in Glencoe.  To its left, a stand of towering 18’ poppies wave gently in neon pink and blue.  Placed side-by-side, two of Lightscape’s most majestic attractions convince you that this is one of the most enthralling holiday events anyone could hope to experience. 

Although reservations allow event organizers to manage the number of people who are on the grounds each night, crowds are still large.  Their size is seldom a hindrance because the property easily accommodates throngs and because the trail moves in only one direction; minimizing confusion and maximizing safety.  Guides strategically stationed along the route, equipped with lighted batons, steer walkers through the path and announce restroom opportunities.  Concessions offering food and drink in keeping with the season cluster neatly in a pavilion near the laser light show beaming across one of the garden’s sweeping water features.

Music saturates every step of the trail.  Even if you were to enjoy this ingenious tribute to the Christmas holidays alone, the music could and would serve as a pleasing and congenial escort.  Rather than applying new arrangements to classic songs, the creative team chose to present arrangements and music that are familiar but performed with exceptional proficiency. Never excessive or harsh, the volume and clarity remain perfectly calibrated to the setting.  In a narrow section of the path called The Singing Trees, the music proved especially rich.  Trees on both sides of the path, their slender trunks wrapped in bright multi-colored lights, were turned into an outdoor corridor of light and sound.  The music filling the space was so close and intimate, it seemed entirely plausible that the trees themselves were singing.  Even with people extending far to the front and far to the rear, the sense of peace while walking through the trees was as strong as it was unexpected.

Of course, most people were not visiting alone.  Babies were pushed in buggies tricked out in lights.  Three year olds bucked and threatened to run loose through the crowd.  Teenagers posed for themselves and Instagram.  Couples strolled in bubbles of bliss.  Parents shepherded small and large broods.  Elders gazed out in admiration.  All seemed delighted to find themselves in this wonderland of light and all took special pleasure in The Fire Garden.  Coming from the premise that more is more, masses of individual flaming torches filled a stream and covered the hill overlooking it.  Simplicity and grandeur in a single stroke. 

As wonderful as it would be to say that the people filling the park broadly mirrored the diversity of the metropolitan area, right now that isn’t quite true.  Although the age spectrum is wide and those on the trail represent a mix of cultural heritages, a broader range would emphasize the universality of the holiday message.  Landscape debuted at Chicago Botanical Gardens in 2019; making it a young holiday offering.  As word spreads about its uniqueness and how easily it can be enjoyed, the trail’s appeal can only spread.

Landscape

Nov 12, 2021 – Jan 2, 2022

4:30pm – 9:15pm

Chicago Botanic Gardens

1000 Lake Cook Rd.

Glencoe, IL  60022

https://www.chicagobotanic.org/events/featured_events/lightscape