A renowned festival near Bristol will be returning this Christmas after a two-year absence. This year the Festival of Light in Longleat will be showcasing ‘The Wondrous Worlds of Roald Dahl’, which will see the famed author’s most iconic characters and scenes brought to life with 800 lanterns across 30 acres.
Starting from Saturday, November 5 and running on selected dates throughout the festive holidays until Sunday, January 8, this year’s festival was formed by a team of designers from Longleat who are working with The Roald Dahl Story Company to create illuminated scenes from books including The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Matilda, The Twits and Fantastic Mr Fox.
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Using a little creative lantern magic, the display will feature beloved childhood favourites characters such as The BFG, Matilda and Miss Honey- visitors will also be able to trot along through Wonka's famous factory gates, visit the chocolate river Augustus Gloop fell into and be bewildered by James' Giant Peach.
The festive fun will continue with Longleat’s famous 15-metre Enchanted Christmas Tree show and the popular Santa Train, while organisers have hailed the festival as its “biggest and most ambitious to date”.
Kevin Ashley, Longleat’s head of marketing, said: "After an absence of two years due to Covid, we are delighted to be able to officially announce the phizz-whizzing theme for The Festival of Light 2022. Roald Dahl’s stories are part of everyone’s childhood and to have the opportunity to bring them to life here at Longleat is so exciting.
"Our team of designers is hard at work transforming all the iconic characters into lantern form and creating what is certain to be our most ambitious festival ever. With such an extraordinary cast of characters, and at a time when we all need a little bit of magic to look forward to, we’re determined to make something truly remarkable this year."
Tickets include access to all the animal and adventure attractions, including the Winter Safari Drive-through, Jungle Kingdom, Jungle Cruise and Longleat Hedge Maze. For more information you can visit the Longleat website by clicking here .
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