House of Travel Botanic D'Lights (FREE EVENT)

House of Travel Botanic D'Lights

Turn on the lights, switch on your imaginations. House of Travel Botanic D’Lights transforms the Botanic Gardens and The Arts Centre into a spectacle of illuminated artworks and innovative light installations.

Developed and produced by a dedicated team from Christchurch, this five-night winter spectacle engages NZ’s leading lighting artists, designers and creative thinkers.
When darkness falls, you’ll explore an illuminated pathway which turns the vast collection of plants and grand conservatories into a glittering winter wonderland. All to the beat of exciting soundscapes and special performances.

Gold coin donation.

Entry points: Western Gate, Southern gate, Rolleston Ave Gate and Armagh Street Gate.

House of Travel Botanic D'Lights will be held on Wednesday 8 August to Sunday 12 August. The event will run between 6 to 9pm each night, with recommended last entry at 8.30pm. 

The event will be held in be both the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and the Arts Centre of Christchurch. Get familiar with the event trail with this handy map [PDF, 4.5 MB]. You'll also discover which installations are best for families to play and interact with.

Entry is by gold coin donation with all proceeds to Nurse Maude Hospice.

If you're driving, please note that the following road closures will be in place each night of the event, between 4 and 9.30pm:

• Rolleston Avenue from Cashel Street to 50m north of Worcester Boulevard.
• Hereford Street from Rolleston Avenue to 20 Hereford Street.
• Worcester Boulevard from Rolleston Avenue to 20 Worcester Boulevard.

Plan your route ahead of time and expect some delays.

Alternatively, why not take the bus? A range of public transport options can be found at Metro Info.

We've got a range of parking options available in the central city:

• Lichfield Street car park: Your first hour of parking is free. After that, your second hour (or part thereof) will be $2.80, capped at $3.00 for however long you park between 5pm and 10am the next morning.
• Christchurch Art Gallery car park: Your first hour is free.
• Other free and paid parking options can be found on our CBD parking map.

The event trail is accessible to people of all ages and abilities with wide pathways.  We've also got friendly marshals, security guards and the St Johns team on hand to help if we need them.  We recommend downloading our trail map before the event.

• Warm up with free soup from The Hits HOT Soup Station (Wednesday night only, limited to the first 500 people) or with hot drinks and tasty street bites from food trucks on Rolleston Ave each night;
• Merchandise will be on sale at several points along the trail
• Kids, light up your night with free glow-in-the-dark face painting by The Hits team (available Thursday to Sunday only).
• Bring a torch, dress warmly and get ready to make some magical memories!
• Be in to win: Thanks to House of Travel and Air New Zealand, you could go into the draw to win return flights for two to Chicago! Find out more and enter here.

A big thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors and partners who have enabled us to put on this fantastic event for Christchurch. Thank you to House of Travel Christchurch, NZME, Ara Department of Creative Industries, the Arts Centre of Christchurch, Treetech, Monstavision, Fahey Fence Hire, ChristchurchNZ and Antarctica New Zealand.