Light festival 'Lichtzauber' illuminates Park der Gärten in Bad Zwischenahn for five weeks from Friday

Light festival opens in Bad Zwischenahn

As summer evenings grow noticeably shorter, the Park der Gärten in Bad Zwischenahn stays lit longer. The "Illumination - Lichtzauber im Park" opens on Friday evening, August 7, and runs for five weeks through September 13. Thousands of LED lights have been distributed across the park grounds in the Ammerland region, illuminating gardens, trees, paths, shrubs and even individual flowers once darkness falls each evening. The lights remain on every evening until midnight, giving visitors a window of several hours to explore the installations.

Park director Lennart Böhlje said the annual event has become a "real crowd-puller." The lights are switched on only at nightfall, but many visitors arrive well before that. Some meet for picnics and wait for dusk to settle in, while those who arrive later in the evening can still immerse themselves in the light installations. The display remains active until midnight each night, allowing visitors to experience the park at different stages of twilight and darkness over the course of a single visit.

Installations and highlights

A walk through the park grounds reveals light sculptures at nearly every corner, many of them suitable for photography. Some installations are accompanied by music, while others incorporate video projections that combine nature, light and art into a single experience. The range of illuminated objects spans from glowing planets and colourful mythical creatures to a sparkling crystal, offering varied visual encounters throughout the park's landscape.

A particular attraction this year comes from a Dutch company, which has installed eight large self-illuminating planets of the solar system on a meadow within the park. Each planet measures two to three meters in diameter, making them a prominent feature of the display and a notable photo opportunity for visitors exploring the grounds after dark.

Inspiration for garden enthusiasts

Beyond the artistic installations, the event also targets gardening enthusiasts. The park's many model gardens are illuminated with garden spotlights, globe lights and modern illumination variants, offering visitors inspiration for their own garden lighting at home. The organisers say garden fans should find plenty of ideas among the illuminated model gardens, which demonstrate different approaches to outdoor lighting design that can be adapted for private use.

Park history and visitor numbers

The Park der Gärten was created on the site of the first Landesgartenschau, or state garden show, in Lower Saxony, held in 2002. The facility has been open to visitors since 2003. According to its own description, the park aims to provide information, inspiration and recreation for all visitors, showcasing botanical diversity, trends from horticulture and knowledge about plants.

In the previous year, the park set a visitor record with around 200,000 paying guests. The current park season runs until October 4, giving visitors several additional weeks to explore the grounds after the light festival concludes on September 13.