Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) will welcome back Lightscape, the stunning, mile-long illuminated trail on Friday, November 17. Marking its third year in Brooklyn, Lightscape has fast become the city’s contemporary classic for the holidays, offering an imaginative, joyful spin on winter traditions.
The expanded and reimagined trail builds on the natural beauty of BBG’s landscapes, trees, water features, and architectural details, taking visitors on an otherworldly nighttime journey through 18 installations by international light artists and design collectives.
“Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers have already fallen in love with Lightscape over the past two years, and we’re delighted to invite the city back this winter with the most exquisite trail yet,” said Adrian Benepe, president and CEO of Brooklyn Botanic Garden. “Nowhere else in the city will you find a more mesmerizing way to spend a winter night, celebrating the season and joining with friends and family to experience New York’s new contemporary classic for the holidays.”
This year’s Lightscape is complete with a newly curated playlist featuring Taylor Swift, Elton John, Philip Glass, and Viter Ukrainian Folk Choir, among others, as well as a Brooklyn hip-hop zone celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with music by Mos Def, MC Lyte, Digable Planets and more. Pop-up dining areas throughout the trail will offer hot buttered rum, s’mores in a jar, homemade donuts, and other seasonal treats and warm beverages.
New installations for 2023 include:
- • Submergence, an immersive, interactive experience created with thousands of individual points of suspended light, created by renowned UK collaborative Squidsoup
- • Sea of Light, by Ithaca Studio, which illuminates BBG’s famous nearly 100,000-square foot Cherry Esplanade end to end with a moving sequence of light
- • Trinity, by Novak, featuring dozens of botanical illustrations from the Garden’s own archives that come to life as 22-foot-high projections on three 100-year-old horsechestnut trees
- • Supernova, a 24-foot-high illuminated Moravian star, by Studio Vertigo
Lightscape will be open through New Year’s Day. Hours and tickets are available at bbg.org/lightscape.
