A review of Wichita's Botanical Illuminations
This local attraction is a holiday favorite, and at just $13 a ticket, makes for a popular student attraction.
With the semester winding down, the holiday season is officially in full swing. For any looking to explore or celebrate local traditions, one of the most popular options is located a short forty minutes from Bethel College: Botanica’s Illuminations.
Botanica is a botanical garden located in the heart of downtown Wichita. During the summer, the gardens are a popular travel destination, boasting over fifty different exhibits and attractions, such as the popular Koi Pond and Butterfly House. With all the flowering plants and colorful trees, Botanica is a green gem of natural beauty in the heart of Kansas’ biggest city.
However, even after all the plants lose their leaves or fade away for the winter, Botanica has found a creative way to keep their garden’s beautiful colors. The Illuminations light show is one of the most popular winter attractions in the state, occasionally being featured in the annual USA Today Top 10 Christmas Light Shows. The garden itself features several impressive sights; after all, the show is made from over two million individual lights, with a large portion being programmed to sync up to songs for a musical light display.
Walking around the garden, I noticed several of Botanica’s decorative art pieces and statues scattered around the garden had gotten a Christmasy upgrade; either a chain of lights, a Christmas tree, or a spotlight bathing the lights in a colorful shower of red and green.
Several new exhibits had opened as well, including a sixty foot tall Christmas tree synched to music, and a controllable light orb display, which I promptly used to give the garden a Bethel College themed upgrade of maroon and gray.
The trail takes about an hour to complete. In order to keep guests warm, there are heaters spaced around at various points throughout the walk, and most of the buildings have a station to provide hot chocolate, s’mores, or other warm holiday treats.
Illuminations is one of the biggest names in the country when it comes to holiday light shows, and it’s easy to see why. Even in the dead of winter, Botanica is able to make their gardens glow bright with new colors and sounds that make their garden bright with the holiday spirit.
Botanica is located along the Museums on the River section of downtown Wichita, and tickets are available online for $13 for adults. The Illuminations show will run until Dec. 31.