RICHMOND, Va. -- This year's Dominion Energy GardenFest of Lights, which is now lighting up Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden nightly through Jan. 9, features a new installation: The Poems of Positivity.
The Orlosky Studio light installation is a community-centered project featuring three towers with light shining through words cut out of black acrylic. The words were crowd-sourced through a social media invitation for people to share in a few short words, “what is something that makes you feel positive?”
"The past two years we've needed a lot of positivity, and so these were crowdsourced words and phrases that are positive that made people feel good," Beth Monroe, the Garden's Public Relations and Marketing Director, said. "So they shared those with us, and they've been incorporated into these structural towers that are in the garden. And the words are cut out and so they glow in all different colors."
The theme of this year's GardenFest of Lights is Naturally Connected.
"It's about how we as people are connected to each other and with nature, so we'll see that throughout the displays," Monroe explained.
The maze of lights is designed as a spider web this year and other displays include lights showing the lifecycle of a butterfly, oversized flower forms and familiar favorites like the peacock.
There is also a 25-foot-tall live tree in the Conservatory decked out in a botanical theme.
"We're just so fortunate to be able to have the volunteers and the staff to create Dominion Energy Gardenfest of Lights and thrilled to be able to share it with the community again this year," Monroe said. "There's so much to see."
Tickets must be purchased in advance and are only available online. Guest will have a timed arrival for "an optimal experience" and to make sure there is adequate parking.
Gardenfest of Lights is open daily from 4–10 p.m. through Sunday, Jan. 9. The garden will be closed on Thanksgiving Day as well as Dec. 24 and 25.
Ticket prices vary. For more information, visit LewisGinter.org or call 804-262-9887.
