November 18, 2024 – January 5, 2025
Nationally recognized light show this year features “Homes and Habitats” theme. Also: model trains, botanical decorations, warming fire, dining and shopping. Advance tickets required; available online only at lewisginter.org.
One of Central Virginia’s most beloved holiday traditions, Dominion Energy GardenFest of Lights, will return to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden this November. Voted the Best Botanical Garden Lights Show in the U.S. in the 2023 USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards (and nominated again this year), the 2024-25 theme is Homes & Habitats: A Celebration of Connection.
As audiences take in millions of lights across the Garden they will explore and celebrate the beauty and importance of interconnected environments. Homes and Habitats; where nature and community intertwine. From vibrant wetlands, a lush forest, and a vibrant savannah, to a magical world of fantasy, every environment plays a vital role in sustenance for life.
Please see below for important information about this year’s event.
Important Ticket Information
Tickets are available online only at lewisginter.org. They must be purchased in advance (no walk-ups) and have arrival time windows starting at 4 p.m. and ending at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets have an insurance option allowing for a one-time transfer to another date.
Theme
This year’s theme, Homes & Habitats: A Celebration of Connection, invites audiences to take in millions of lights across the Garden as they explore and celebrate the beauty and importance of interconnected environments. See the Gardens re-imagined as wetlands, rainforests, deserts, grasslands, and more.
New This Year
Interactive light features in the Children’s Garden and Cochrane Rose Garden.
Find the Pokémon light form in each habitat! Ponyta, Ivysaur, and many other characters are waiting for guests throughout the Garden.
Herbs in the Home, a display in the Lora M. Robins Library Reading Room, will show us how we use nature in our kitchen, for crafts and decorations, and other practices, representing the HOME – traditions and festivities.
Dried botanicals and a brand-new timeline exhibit outlining our Garden’s past,
present, and future will grace the Robins Visitors Center and its hallway as you walk in.
Celebrate 40 years with us!
Familiar Favorites
Model trains return to the Kelly Education Center nightly 4-9:45 p.m. Our volunteers have
worked hard at creating a themed display centered around Homes and Habitats that includes a lake scene, a wooded mountain, a farm, a town, and more!
The Warming Fire in the Children’s Garden is a great spot to warm up, drink hot chocolate, and roast s’mores (available for purchase at the nearby Carriage House).
Homemade natural wood trees built by our volunteers and decorated by Henrico
County Public Schools students brighten the Lora M. Robins Library.
The Fairy Village enchants viewers in the Lora M. Robins Library, with miniature houses made with seeds, petals, and other natural mediums.
A Frasier Fir Tree over 20 feet tall sits outside of the Conservatory and a light tunnel in the Central Garden – perfect for a holiday photo-op!
Special Nights
GARDENFEST FOR FIDOS
Leashed dogs allowed for GardenFest for Fidos Nights on select Monday nights: November 18, 25, December 2, 9, 16, 2024
Performances
Tuesday, Nov. 19, 6-7 p.m. Pungmulnori Korean Festive Performance (The Main Garden
Walk)
Tuesday, Nov. 26, 6:30-8 p.m. The Nutcracker performed by The Concert Ballet of Virginia (The Rose Garden)
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 6:30-8:30 p.m. SPARC’s Touring Ensemble will be caroling around the
Garden (The Rose Garden)
Tuesday, Dec. 10, 6-8 p.m. Hanover High School (The Rose Garden)
Tuesday, Dec. 17, 6-8 p.m. Henrico High School (The Rose Garden)
