Blossoms of Light – Improving the Visitor Experience

November 22, 2017 Special Events

Each year, we enhance the winter wonderland of Blossoms of Light with more lights, new colors and innovative features. But there’s a lot more to the event than just the lights! After two record-breaking years of attendance, we spent the better part of this year making changes to the event that will improve our visitor experience for all.

More Time in the Lights!
This year, the Gardens will close each day at 4 p.m., which will allow us to open the doors to Blossoms of Light at 5 p.m. – half an hour earlier than last year.

More Restrooms
In addition to those in the Boettcher Memorial Center and Marnie’s Pavilion, the restrooms at The Hive Garden Bistro are now available all year long.

Early Exit Points
Because the Blossoms of Light path is one-way, departing the event early has been a bit of a challenge. This year, we’ve added three early-exit opportunities to guests who need to leave the path for any reason.

Ticketing Changes
Limited tickets each night will help us avoid over-crowding. While this does mean that our visitors will need to plan a little farther in advance, it should make even our busiest evenings feel less crowded. In addition, door pricing offers visitors an extra incentive for purchasing in advance – tickets are $5 less than if you purchase at the door the night you attend!

Skip the Parking Hassle
We’ve partnered with Lyft to offer Blossoms of Light visitors two different discounts. New users save $5 off their first three rides with code GARDENS17. Existing users save 20 percent on a single ride to or from the Gardens with code BOL2017. And don’t forget: the Gardens is easily accessible by two RTD bus lines, has several Car2Go spots (for the smaller smart fortwo cars) and has a B-Cycle station just outside the main entrance.

Got a Question? Drop us a line!
Send us an email at info@botanicgardens.org or call us 720-865-3500 if you have any questions about the event or your tickets.

Blossoms of Light is open 5-9 p.m. every night from November 24 - January 1. Advance reservations are highly recommended: purchase in advance for the best price and to ensure admittance on your desired date. Get your tickets today!

Comments

Group for Santa festival at Chatfield

I have 17 people that want to attend the Santa festival at Chatfield. I am a member but I can only purchase 15 tickets. Can I purchase 17? How do I go about doing that.

Group for Santa's Village at Chatfield Farms

Hi Heather,

Please call 720-865-3500 to purchase a 6-Pack for group tickets. It is $85 for a 6-Pack, and you can buy multiple 6-Packs and also additional single tickets. Enjoy Santa's Village!

Souvenir mug, warm drink, and holiday treats.

While my group of 18 thoroughly enjoyed the festival of lights, we felt misled by the way the "extras" were mentioned on your website. You should indicate that the souvenir mug, warm drink, and holiday treats can be purchased separately. We were expecting them to be included with the entry fee.

Souvenir mug, warm drink, and holiday treats

Hi Nyla,

Thanks for your comment. I made that clearer on the web page. We are glad you all enjoyed Blossoms of Light!

Doris

Festival of Lights complaint

This event was a complete bust for us. We bought two tickets in addition to our membership comps for 11/26, and arrived from Arvada just after 5 p.m. The parking garage was a complete zoo. We circumnavigated several times and then went in search of street parking. At that time, we noticed the line of ticket holders seeking entry was, perhaps, an hour's wait. At 5:45, we gave up and went home without seeing anything. The management of this event is really sub par, and had there been warnings on the website on how bad the congestion and line waits were, we'd have gone some other time.

Blossoms of Light

We apologize for your frustration with parking and entry to Blossoms of Light. We agree that parking can be a challenge at peak holiday hours. The entry line moves quite quickly and we monitor it throughout the night. If you are still interested in seeing the lights but prefer a less crowded night, we encourage you to visit on a weeknight and avoid the week between Christmas and New Years. We are happy to exchange your tickets to another night, just email our Resource Center at info@botanicgardens.org.

light displays

We visited a week ago and it was magical! I looked for brochure or website information, but can't find anything that answers my questions. How many lights per tree & total, etc. ? How many people & days to light the area? How much power used per day? How many visitors per night? I'm so curious about what it took to deliver this experience. It was worth it!

Hi Betsy, we are so glad you

Hi Betsy, we are so glad you enjoyed your visit! We do not have an exact count of lights, but we estimate it is around half a million. We begin stringing lights on the Tuesday after Labor Day, with crews here almost every week day until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. We do not know exactly how much power is used per day by the lights, but we are 100% LED so our draws on power are significantly reduced from the days when we used incandescent lights. It takes two event coordinators, and representatives from almost every other department, a full year to design the show and work through all the logistics. Hope that helps to answer your questions!

Blog Post from Special Events

And Betsy, here is a blog post from our Special Events team with more detail about Blossoms of Light preparation:

https://www.botanicgardens.org/blog/christmas-july-try-january

We are so glad you enjoyed your visit to Blossoms of Light!