Five things to know about this year’s Illuminations at Botanica
If you’ve been to Botanica’s Illuminations in years past and felt like you were walking through a wonderland of 2 million lights that couldn’t get any more magical, you’re in for a holiday treat.
“We’ve moved around a lot of things, we’ve added displays, we’ve incorporated some of the drive-through displays from last year, we’ve spiced things up,” said Kathy Sweeney Spillman, Botanica’s director of special events. “This year is going to be a fabulous display, the best we’ve ever had.”
Illuminations opens Thursday, Nov. 18 and runs through Jan. 1. It runs 5:30 to 9 p.m. daily with the exception of closing for the Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 24 and 25 and for Christmas on Dec. 24 and 25. Tickets are $13 for adults and $9 for children younger than 12 as well as Botanica members. Ages 2 and younger are free.
It is the largest fundraiser of the year for the nearly 18-acre gardens that are operated in a partnership between the nonprofit and the city of Wichita. In 2019, Illuminations brought 93,000 visitors and accounted for a quarter of the gardens’ annual budget.
The pandemic forced changes to 2020’s Illuminations, and some of those modifications return this year while others — including the drive-through component — are gone.
Here are five things to know if you plan to attend this year’s festival of lights, which made the top 10 “Best Botanical Garden Holiday Lights” across the U.S. for the past two seasons, as ranked by USA Today’s readers.
Advance tickets are required and they are timed - To avoid overcrowding, a limited number of time-specific tickets are available each evening. They must be purchased in advance at botanica.org/illuminations/.
You’ll have a 30-minute window to enter and then can stay as long as you’d like. There are no refunds on tickets, however you can exchange your reservation for a different date up to 24 hours prior to your existing reservation.
There’s only one way to enter: the South Gate Entrance - This year the only entrance for Illuminations is through the South Gate Entrance on Sim Park Drive across from Old Cowtown Museum. You’ll want to park in the newly finished River Edge parking lot or the Old Cowtown Museum parking lot.
In previous years, there have been shuttle buses from overflow parking near the Wichita Art Museum. That shouldn’t be needed this year because of the limited tickets and new parking lot.
Organizers will monitor ticket sales and offer the shuttle if needed.
It’s a one-way route and can be longer than last year - Congestion had been a problem on busy weekend nights before the pandemic brought an emphasis on distancing. A one-way traffic flow will help limit interaction between guests and should reduce congestion on the walking path.
To see the full display, plan on a little more than a mile walk that should take most visitors 60 to 90 minutes. You can lengthen your trek by choosing to walk the path through the forested Woodland Bird Garden, an area that was not part of Illuminations last year.
Santa will be there, along with other activities - You’ll find Santa at Illuminations through Dec. 23. He won’t be behind glass this year but he will still maintain some distance. A fence will separate him from guests, and you’ll be able to snap a photo with him.
He’ll be delivering treats through a candy cane chute, and children are encouraged to bring a letter to drop in the oversized mailbox in Santa’s Village at the Koi Pond Pavilion. They can write their own, or parents will find templates to print off at botanica.org/santa-letters.
Also through Dec. 23, there will live performances by local musicians on the terrace from 6:30 to 7:30 nightly.
Botanica will sell candy, popcorn, drinks and merchandise at concession stands in the main lobby and in the Carousel Pavilion. At least one food truck will be on site nightly and parked at the plaza in the new Koch Carousel Gardens. The nearby fireplace patio will be a popular spot to sit and have a snack. Bar service also will be stationed throughout the gardens. All vendors accept credit/debit cards only.
The Khicha Family Carousel, a restored 1949 Allan Herschell Co. carousel, will operate during Illuminations. It costs $3 per person per ride and tickets are sold inside the Carousel Pavilion.
With two new light displays, Illuminations is bigger than ever - It’s been a while since anyone has counted the lights of Illuminations but Spillman said it’s safe to say there are more than 2 million lights. Several displays built specifically for last year’s drive-through Illuminations will appear inside the gardens this year, and organizers also have added two completely new displays.
Spillman said the design team was able to get creative in new ways with a Children’s Garden Meadow display that uses 360 metal poles to take the light show vertical. Each of the 4-foot-tall poles has 16 lights, and the display’s nearly 6,000 lights are choreographed to music.
A second display debuting this year is in the recently completed Koch Carousel Gardens area. Moving head beam lights will dance in the sky around a 25-foot-tall Christmas tree made of more than 15,000 pixels. Spillman said the outdoor grade beam lights are new to the industry and the Botanica team had fun incorporating them in bold ways.
Visitors will still find the traditional displays that many return to see every year, from the funky tree bedazzled with light sculptures to candy cane lane in the Butterfly House to the 240-foot-long walk-through tunnel of lights. There are more than 8,000 holiday luminarias lining the pathways and more than 300 lighted trees throughout the gardens. Three main choreographed light and music shows are showstoppers, but Spillman said there’s something to see around every turn.
“Take your time and be sure to look on both sides of the walkways,” she said. “It’s really quite magical.”
Live music schedule for Botanica
Illuminations features live music on the terrace from 6:30 to 7:30 nightly through Dec. 23. Here’s the schedule of performances:
Dec. 1: Wichita Choral Society
Dec. 2: Butler County Community College Show Band
Dec. 3: Derby High School Madrigals
Dec. 5: Andrew Young (solo keyboard)
Dec. 6: Chaparral Singers
Dec. 7: Studio Singers
Dec. 8: Lone Tree Youth Group Choir
Dec. 9: Suncrest Youth Group Choir
Dec. 10: Cleaveland Traditional Magnet Elementary Choir
Dec. 11: Christa McAuliffe Comet Choir
Dec. 12: Newman Troubadours
Dec. 12: Heart of America Men’s Chorus
Dec. 13: Andale High School Choir
Dec. 15: Route 266
Dec. 16: Haven High School Wildcat Singers
Dec. 17: Circle High School Jazz Band
Dec. 18: Sunflower Elementary Choir
Dec. 19: Knocknasheega Celtic Band
Dec. 20: Garden Plain High School Choir
Dec. 21: Hutchinson Middle School Choir – Adams Street
Dec. 22: Air Traffic Sax Quartet
Dec. 23: Stephanie Nusbaum (solo keyboard)
This story was originally published November 13, 2021 at 5:37 AM.