Tucson doesn’t ordinarily get snow for the holidays, but the Old Pueblo still knows how to sparkle — particularly the Tucson Botanical Gardens.
The gardens at 2150 N. Alvernon Way are preparing to open its third annual LightsUp! Festival of Illumination, which runs Friday, Nov. 29, to Saturday, Jan. 12. The show is closed on Christmas.
The festival is the brainchild of gardens executive director Michelle Conklin, who researched other botanical garden light displays across the country. She was inspired.
“When I started visiting gardens and saw the beauty that could happen in a garden with lights, it was a whole different experience and, I thought, ‘Tucson needs this,’” she said.
Conklin knew they could have bought a predesigned package of lights but she and her team wanted something special. Her request to landscape architect Tres Fromme was simple yet complex: Give them something that is distinctly Tucson.
“We wanted it to feel very cultural,” Conklin said. “We wanted it to feel like Tucson… We wanted something you could only see in Tucson, and we wanted to keep the flavor of the Botanical Gardens, which is intimate and cultural and beautiful.”
More than 1 million LED lights and several local artists later, the LightsUp! Festival of Illumination opened. Its first show was in 2022.
There is a method to viewing the show. Hundreds of luminarias line the walkway that take guests through a mile of decorations and lights. Guests can take in seven zones, and each has its own color palette.
“We looked at every different zone along that path and we thought, ‘What would enhance this garden?’” Conklin said.
At the entry, guests will be greeted by a large “tree” made of birdhouses. Then, step onto the marked walkway and take in a tree wrapped with strings of lights programmed to twinkle with recorded music.
The lights are strung to the tips of the branches. Tucson’s EnviroCare Tree Solutions is responsible for installing and removing the lights. They take great care not to damage the trees or surrounding plants.
Most of the show was created in Tucson, as the gardens used local artists and construction studios. The lights, however, were manufactured in North Carolina.
The staff is not only careful about the plants. One tree was home to someone who didn’t appreciate being disturbed.
“We hung some drip lights in here, and they usually cover the whole side of the tree,” said Adam Farrell-Wortman, horticulture director.
“Right now, we’ve had an owl nesting in this tree for the last couple of months. She didn’t like the climbers getting too close, so we left her in a good undisturbed zone. Because of that we’re going to have a little bare spot.”
Also featured are tin-punch trees that are lit from within, chandeliers hanging from the trees and made of upside-down luminarias, plenty of illuminated stars and an 11-foot crescent moon that’s suitable for proposals, which evidently has happened in years past.
“It’s a pretty magical place,” Conklin said. “I worked last Christmas Eve as the onsite manager, and there were two wedding proposals. One marriage proposal was extra special because the whole family was there, and the mother and the father were married in that garden.”
The gardens’ staff has been working since Labor Day to prepare the show for holiday guests, something they look forward to, according to Laura Leach, development and marketing director. For them, too, it marks the beginning of the holiday season.
“LightsUp! is a greatly anticipated and joyful team effort at the Gardens,” Leach said. “Installation starts soon after Labor Day and quickly gets us all into the festive spirit.”
The café will be open every night for nibbles, serving items such as Mexican hot chocolate, agua frescas, brownies, cookies and hot dogs. From Thursday to Sundays, peddlers will sell hot drinks like lattes along the way.
More than anything, the Tucson Botanical Gardens staff hopes the Lights Up! Festival of Illumination becomes a new family tradition.
“Come with the family,” Leach said. “Start a new tradition if you haven’t been before. If you have been before, come back because there are new things.”
“This is the only show of its kind in Southern Arizona,” Conklin added. “It’s really special and it’s put together with a lot of love.”
