Autumn Lights
There is a huge, beautiful garden fronting Lake Merritt, next to Fairyland. I didn’t know that until last night, but now I do, and so do you.
The gardens cover 7 relatively hidden acres, and have a bonsai garden, a succulent garden, Japanese garden, sensory garden, and more. It appears to be 11 years old (but I may not understand it correctly), and seems to be an excellent community resource.
Autumn Lights is an annual fund raising event, combining the gardens, art, music and food into two lyrical evenings by the water. Artists are recruited who work in light, all the garden pathways are lighted with luminaria, music abounds, food trucks cater and a horde of people descend for a magical evening.
Big crowds, lots of lights
People come in costume:
A walking flower
Some are wilder than others:
There were LED lights in that wig, too.
But it is the art that makes the evening:
Admission the garden is usually free, although you can spend a fin on the parking if you don’t want to walk in. Autumn Lights is a fundraiser, and it will set you back $25, a couple of bucks cheaper if you do it online.
The show is over for this year; you should really plan to go next October. Doors open at 6, but things aren’t very interesting until about 7:15 when the sun goes down and the lights take center stage, just make sure you get out on time, they secure the location with the unlockitlocksmith.com services. Put it on your calendar.
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