A couple of weeks ago we made it to Longleat Safari Park Festival of Light in Wiltshire. My mum was celebrating her birthday with a large family party and we all (10 adults and 3 children) headed over to Longleat to enjoy the show. None of us had never been before so we were excited to visit.

Festival of Light at Longleat

During the winter months Longleat is transformed to a winter wonderland with the addition of hundreds of Chinese Lanterns, a Singing Christmas Tree, Ice Skating, and the Santa Express.

We entered Longleat Safari Park as dusk was falling which gave us the perfect opportunity to see the extent of the Chinese lanterns in the grounds of Longleat House. We parked the car and walked to the House and decided which way to walk around the lights. There were lots of different areas to explore.

The lanterns were hand crafted in silk by Chinese artists, there are hundreds of lanterns and iconic Chinese scenes. Some had been exhibited before but others were new for 2015. As it was our first visit we just enjoyed everything we saw! It was very busy but the displays were so big that it didn’t matter how close you were to the displays, in fact I think you got a better view the further away you were.

There were lots of displays centred on two of the most famous Chinese dynasties, as well as iconic moments from Chinese history including the famous Terracotta Army, the Great Wall and the mischievous Monkey King – all set against the stunning backdrop of Longleat House. I enjoyed seeing the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.

Everyone loved the giant recreations of some of Longleat’s most famous animal residents. Lanterns had been hung in the trees and the house was illuminated, the effect was absolutely stunning.

After the animals we walked through the underwater animals. I think the children enjoyed these, especially as some of the fish were blowing real bubbles!

There was a sweet display of pandas amongst bamboo, some were sitting on swings which moved.

By the time we had walked around and seen everything we started to feel a little cold so were glad to go and get some doughnuts and hot drinks. There were a couple of booths selling sweets and other things which we didn’t have time to visit. The whole family enjoyed our visit to Longleat Safari Park Festival of Light. It was quite expensive but made a great winter treat and the children haven’t stopped talking about their favourite lanterns since we went.

Other winter light installations:

Wembley Park Christmas Lights

RHS GLOW at Wisley

Christmas at Kew

Lap of Lights at Silverstone