The Electric Gardens at The Botanics

Thanks to a Unilocal competition I bagged two tickets to see the Electric Gardens at the Botanics event a few weeks ago, woohoo! I was excited to check it out as I’d been to the Enchanted Forest in Pitlochry previously and was interested to see the Botanics’ spin on a similar thing.
The weather was predictably horrible, but it didn’t dampen our spirits so with our hoods pulled up my pal and I set out to experience the show during the downpour. The entrance was at a gate further up Queen Margaret Drive, where we were handed maps showing the route to take through the park with various points of interest and timings for shows. Trees, plants and greenhouse buildings were lit up beautifully using a variety of different types of lights and colours.
There were features dotted around the park to discover such as the swimming goldfish projected into the old railway tunnel and the path of snowflakes that my friend and I jumped between as they lit up, splashing around in the rain like a right pair of dafties… There were also interactive elements — storytelling and bat crafts in the Kibble Palace. We really enjoyed decorating our bats and playing with the light effects, big kids that we are! The fire show was a highlight too — three performers valiantly battled against the weather, swinging and twirling various fiery objects and creating swirly hypnotic light patterns to entertain the crowd.
It’s a family friendly experience, great for children, or best approached with a childlike spirit if you’re an adult!

One rainy evening, my beloved and I opted for a peek at the Electric Gardens at the Botanic Gardens. The show from the night before had been cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, and even on the Thursday we attended it was a windy, rain-​soaked evening. Of course that didn’t stop us!
What a beautiful spectacle! Even the rain caught in the lights and made it even more interesting. Lots of ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ noises escaped my mouth as we toured the route plotted out for us. Especially when we looked back to find the effects different from another angle. See if you can find all of the hidden faces along the path.
The fire performers were amazing, and soldiering on through wind and icy rain which was very impressive. And then there was the storyteller who will be a familiar face to our fellow Unilocalers, who thoroughly entertained us with a tale of Mother Winter. Kids and adults alike will love it. When you arrive, the gate stewards give you a map which gives you the times of the fire shows and storytelling, so you shouldn’t have to miss a thing. Also got to design a shiny bat and catch a rainbow with it in the Kibble Palace… My inner child was thoroughly satisfied. :)
I think my only bugbear is the price. But given the number of people involved, I suppose it seems fair. Everyone should see it before it’s packed away on Sunday!

Oh dear. Maybe we picked a particularly bad night to go on, I don’t know but I was not impressed with this years EG event. I thought last year was much better; far more interesting, spooky & seemed more exciting compared to this years event which to me reeked of health & safety gone mad or not as much money pumped into it as last year… I don’t know. I just left feeling a bit let down and cheated.
Other reviews have mentioned a couple of things I/​we didn’t spot, one being some goldfish tunnel thing (?!) the other being the make your own bat, craft thingy. Both of these sound pretty good but on the night we went I saw no goldfish tunnel and when we entered the Kibble Palace, there were no bats to be seen or to be made! :-(Now if the Kibble Palace had REAL bats in it then this would be a 5 star review! Sadly, I spotted 0.
No eerie sound effects this year, no spooky abandoned train station, less interactive shiz, no ghostly dresses/​mannequins, NO FUN! Even the ‘Fire Theatre’ or whatever they called it was not as impressive as last year, with the stage being down a hilly bit it meant when a crowd formed to watch lots of shorter folk (myself included) couldn’t really see very well! So, not very well thought out…
After the fun I had last year I really wanted it to be even better and they promised it would be but this year was not only literally a damp squib but actually a damp squib. Ugh. Weather aside though I still wouldn’t have been as impressed as I was last year. Sorry EG people, it just didn’t (excuse the pun) light my fire.

I have recently been to the enchanted forest in Pitlochry and I must admit, I had a nicer time in the botanics. A lot less crowded, and less… confusing lol. I particularly enjoyed the goldfish bit.
The whole thing felt Christmassy and ethereal.
On the downside, I don’t know if there was a bug or not but there was no music for the first half hour which was a bit sad. All you could hear was the road noises which kinda killed the mood. It started later on so I ll give them the benefit of the doubt.
Also it started raining which means I only saw parts of the fire show. Shame cause it was beautiful.

Genuinely an AWESOME night!!!
Firstly let me start by addressing the elephant in the room…
Yes i had a good night of weather, but in saying that i was prepared for everything!
I think if you’re going to do any sort of outdoor activity, in December, in Scotland, you HAVE to be prepared for some dodgy weather!!!
Weather happens it’s a thing, deal with it! x
Now for the good stuff:
The main gates are closed so you enter thru the gate in Queen Margaret Drive, staff at the gates will take your tickets and guide you where to go.
First awesome sight is the field of light trees/​plants. It was very well done making it look like they’d always been naturally there.
Then you have the option of entering Kibble palace or walking thru the Gardens.
There was a staff member just outside letting everyone know about the fire show and when it was next on. The lady who helped us was LOVELY and also pointed out you can buy hot drinks (and hot donuts!!!) if we need warming up!
If you have kids defo check out the kibble palace as there’s kids activities to do!
If you don’t have kids still check it out, there’s some cool light effects shining thru from outside AND it’s warm and dry!
We’d just missed the start of a fire show so we decided to wander about and come back for the next one!
I’m a bit of a tree lover, so seeing them all lit up was just awesome and kind of magical! Even though you’re in the heart of the west end it totally felt like you’re transported somewhere new, like Narnia, minus the talking animals!
If you just wander around there are loads of awesome areas like the Rotating disco ball corner, or the strobe lighted giant trees but my favourite was the fairy light tunnel! They added smoke so it was all hazy with light, but really pretty!
Headed back for the fire show and that was really well done! The three girls who were on tonight were amazing, i’ve never seen people dancing whilst swinging balls of fire, so it was amazing to see!
Genuinely had an awesome time at the botanics, if you’re gonna go just dress for the worst weather so you’re prepared, Defo check out the fire show and make sure you take all the photos!!! :)
Oh almost forgot, check out Sarah the enchanted fairy!!!

I was suuuper excited to check out the Electric Gardens as I live right on Queen Margaret Drive but somehow had never managed to get a ticket and go before now!
My boyfriend and I headed out into the (torrential) rain and the (freezing) cold, suffice to say it was NOT and ideal night for it. That being said, the guards at the gate were super friendly and pointed us towards the first important bit of the night– the FIRE SHOW! There was a guy with fire swords which was cool, but I thought it was a bit unfair that he got the super intense music when all he had to do was wave swords around and there was a girl with BALLS OF FIRE ON STRING swingin’ them around like nobody’s business and dodging them like crazy! I thought that was waaay cooler. The fire show lasted until about half past if I remember correctly, I have no idea how they kept it all aflame in the pouring rain, but they did!
Then we walked around the various parts of the garden, which are lit up in various different ways and colors, giving a really magical feeling to the place! My favorite bit was the wall of weird lightbulb breathing soundmaking things at the top of the hill. There are various wee surprises like the ‘goldfish in the tunnel’ feature, but I found these kinda disappointing to be honest and was more impressed with the lights!
One thing I have to say I did not like at all were the staff members dressed up like they were at a renaissance fair with black paint smudged on their faces. Firstly, WHY? I did not see the connection between electric gardens old timey clothing and black paint, secondly, CREEPY! One of them curtseyed to me on the way up the hill with this smile that through the paint and the rain looked like an Aphex Twin album cover.
Inside the Kibble Palace there was a storytime thing for kiddies, but by the time we’d done a lap of the garden and got to the Palace we were so frozen and wet that we decided to go home after just about 50 minutes in the Gardens.
This is definitely definitely worth a visit and wold be a great kids activity, but i’d imagine it would be much better in nicer weather circumstances! It’s on til Dec 6 so go go go the first clear night you see!

I was lucky enough to be one of the Unilocal Reporters for this winter event and here I am, reportin’! I missed the chance to go last year and the official Unilocal tour was cancelled this year so I was quite excited about going on my own last Wednesday! Let’s break down the pros and cons.
The nice things about the Electric gardens include :
1) super good photo opportunities with friends, family or even on your own! The greenhouses look extra amazing all lit up! A lot of things you can capture on a nice night!
2) relaxing stroll around the botanic garden with music playing at night when the moon is shining and when the weather is clear! It’s also nice to watch kids get excited over everything around them.
3) they have some live fire performances too!
A few bad things :
1) I kept mentioning the weather because yeap, this will not do on a rainy, windy night. I was unlucky and was caught in what seemed to be a blizzard. I think my Unilocal umbrella is almost destroyed :(
2) when it rains heavily, and the wind kicks in full throttle, they will cut your visit short (I was in for like 15minutes before getting blown away) or potentially cancel the night and that’s quite a bummer, seeing as I was unlucky twice with this event. I’m not even in the mood to give it for the third time.
3) I missed the fire performance because the weather pish so don’t know how impressive it is
4) I think they should do more indoor interactive installations in the greenhouses itself! Would be a good alternative when the weather goes horribly wrong.
So anyway, my conclusion, hope for some luck, great windless weather and enjoy the electric garden!

I really loved this as its a unique thing to be doing on a rainy Thursday ndeed any night that takes your fancy (rain optional). Now i wont spoil the array of light features that you will see but it really changes how we look at the same old structures and tree formations. Good tips for someone going on this is look out for the faces which pop up occasionally and once you have walked a little, look abck and see the same lights from a different perspective, makes for double the show and interest!
Also on the cards are a fire show on a stage just by the kibble palace and a story fairy who is one of our very own Unilocalers! See if you can spot who it is: P. Also the kibble palace is open as well and lit up with a create a bat shiny/​light activated thingumybob which is fun for kids and adults alike!
All in all a unique fun evening which i would reccomend to anyone.

Although we had planned to come last year, we never did.
This year, I was lucky enough to win some tickets (woo, Unilocal!) and so my Lab Partner and I decided to head down. We were lucky with the weather but as soon as we left the gym it was windy and pouring down with rain. Quick tweet to the organisers — Yip, they were still going ahead with the night. Make sure you go to the Queen Margaret Entrance of the Botanics (and yes, it’s easy to miss if you’ve never used it before and it’s dark outside).
So, wrapped up in the most waterproof coat I own and wellies on my feet, it was time to head down. We arrived slightly late, but the people on the gate were super lovely even though drenched and cold. We were given a map but told to just follow the paths.
All I can say that this would be lovely to go to on a nice summers evening, but even in the rain it was really quite nice. You won’t be spending too much time wandering around, but the lights are beautiful and it’s all very wonderfully atmospheric. Definitely go and watch the performers, they are incredible and worth the watch.

The second, annual Electric Gardens is back at the Botanics for more of the same really. If you enjoyed last year’s events then I’d bet that you’ll enjoy yourself once more, however if you found last year’s display somewhat underwhelming, then I’m afraid there’s little more on show to tempt you back.
On a night fit only for ducks (provided they were also wearing parkas), the whole occasion felt a little forced. The performances of the fire dancers and the storyteller really were the only redeeming factor; there’s little in the way of entertainment between the two stops. I imagine that whole experience is a lot more exciting for kids, so you’ll have to pardon me for being an old curmudgeon. The sad thing is that the Botanics looks great from the Byres Road/​Gt Western Road crossing, but once you’re inside, the space feels under-​utilised and apart from the two performance areas, there’s little else to say hey, here’s what you’re getting for your money.
The greenhouses & Kibble palace look great all illuminated (especially the main greenhouse which actually looks quite spooky). Last year the old train station was lit up & had a fairly ghostly air about it, this year’s effort was so dissapointing (I won’t spoil it any further). Perhaps an earlier opening would be a better use of the park and dark nights.
As I said at the start: The Electric Gardens hasn’t really changed all that much, so love it or leave it, it’s unlikely to change your mind this year.

Running till the 6^th December, the Electric Gardens are back for a second year. We visited on a very wet and cold Thursday night but still enjoyed the spectacle.
You book a time slot to arrive but are then free to wander around the park at your leisure. Lights, music and activities are set out around a large area of the gardens — I think you want to have a minimum of a hour to wander around, probably more if you have a small person in tow!
The lights are even more impressive than last year and there are more organised displays with a stage for the fire shows (refer to the timetable on the map you are given when you arrive), a story fairy and a bat making activity in the Kibble Palace. I know I shouldn’t say this but the weather did take the shine off this year’s visit, despite being wrapped up warm, my son was less than impressed with being carted around in such horrid weather! I know he would have been fascinated with the lights and enjoyed chasing the giant ‘moving’ snowflakes down the pathway but he was refusing to get out of his buggy :(
It’s definitely worth a trip to explore the gardens, so book a ticket before it’s a sell out!

I missed The Electric Gardens the last time they visited The Botanics, so when the chance to see them again cropped up, I was really keen to get along. I’m a sucker for a sparkly light, and the botanics are beautiful anyway so it seemed like the perfect match.
First thing to be aware of when you come here — the entrance is around by Queen Margaret Drive, and all the other entrances to the gardens are locked so don’t do what I did and park on the other side and have to walk allllll the way around in the rain… it’s not the best start. It was worth it when I got in to see the pretty lights though. I’ll not give away too much, but there’s a suggested way to walk through the park and as you do, there’s little areas decorated with a variety of lighting designs. And that’s kind of it, which is why it’s only 3 stars for me. I don’t think the ticket price justifies the amount of entertainment you get. While there are fire performances dotted through the evening (and they are pretty impressive so I’d suggest making sure you catch one while you’re there), the rest of the park, while beautiful, is just lit up nicely. I’d have liked to have seen more integration with music as it all felt a bit quiet to me.
There were loads of kids who seemed to LOVE it — and I went on my own which might explain why I left feeling a bit ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about the whole thing. Very pretty, but it just needs to be amped up a bit for me to want to walk around in the dark, in the middle of November.

PRETTEEEEEEE!
I know the Botanics like the back of my hand having lived 2 mins away since being a teeny person. I do feel knowing my way around was a distinct advantage, cos, y’know, of the dark! Wee (ironically, dark) signs with arrows weren’t the most effective directions… more on that later!
Upon entering, I noted that the loos were open-​bonus! Lol… weird, perhaps, but I know that they’d usually be closed at that time, so thought that was helpful! Ha!
You’re given a wee map showing where the fire performances, storytelling and other bits were taking place… I saw on that map later on that I’d wandered into a «no-​go» area (had missed the aforementioned arrow-​sign pointing the other way! Doi!!) –trotted outta there PDQ! Lol!
I was immediately struck by how PRETTY the back of the Kibble Palace looked; there were loads of wee sparkly purple trees all over the lawn, with big searchlights behind it-​BEAUTIFUL!
Wandering round the corner, I noticed the gargantuan tribal-​looking face lit up in the bushes… these were a recurring theme throughout the park, look out for them!
There was a stage-​y bit set up on the big «sunbathing» lawn, with all the surrounding paths shining prettily in multi-​colours; fire performers did their thing on the stage at different point of the evening, I liked it-​but as it was a bit of a miserable rainy night, I didn’t wanna stand around all that long! I discovered a wee gazebo with a gaggle of kids around having a story told to them-​it was all very sweet! (I meant to say, I had forgotten to factor in the fact there’d be sooooooo many kids going around… I dunno HOW I didn’t think about it, but there are HUNDREDS of them, lol… not necessarily a baaaaaad thing, but if one, for instance, wants a wee heat in the Kibble Palace looking at the sculptures, there may be a wee dude shooting at one with an imaginary laser gun… just sayin!)
At the top of the hill, there was a MASSIVE light/​sound set up-​it shone RIGHT down the hill… there was some mad didgeridoo music playing and it miiiiiiight just be my misspent youth talking, but I would’ve loooooved to have had some techno/​house/​dubstep playing throughout the park, the lighting was perfect for it-​maybe they should have late night «party» sessions with DJs or something-​I would TOTALLY go to that! Ha!
I found an AWESOME wee archway filled with twinkly fairy lights, I noted that it’d be a picture perfect place to propose-ha…ever the romantic! As I wandered around (ALONE! haahaaaa) it dawned on me that the Electric Gardens would be a GREAT date destination… lots of talking points and piccie ops! Lol…
But back to the point… I stoated round for and hour and a quarter and even though it was cold, rainy and windy (Storm Abigail be damned!!! Lol) I enjoyed all the sparkles and twinkles… I juuuuuust don’t know if I think it’s worth £8 though, to be completely honest, maybe £5 would be more like it; it seems like a piddly wee difference, but it’s kinda the principal-​there is really only so much you can do with lights etc, but a bit more variety and maybe zones with different music (rather than just lift muzak or didge!!) or a more cohesive theme… just something! For full disclosure, I was reporting for Unilocal,so got in free (yay!!!) but when Him Indoors asked if I’d go back and if he’d like it, I made a kinda «errrrrrr…» noise and that’s really the only reason this isn’t a full five stars! Oh, that and the dark signs! Ha!

I was the resident face painter at this event. I was pretty much freezing the entire time BRRRRRRRR and had my fingerless gloves and hat on non stop!
I didn’t get to see much until the closing night as I was in the Kibble Palace then home. On the final night I finished early and was thrown the keys to Noël the organisers mobility scooter and toured the place in style, I did however get caught on a bump and had to be pushed up by a volunteer (cringe) was great scooting about around all of the lights!
I wasn’t overwhelmed I must say and I thought there would be more interactive things to do. I felt the fire eaters (probably because they made the area warm) were the best part about the show, but I know depending on when you booked your tour you missed them. I did the enjoy the giant disco ball, but the music was pretty lame!
I hope they accept the feedback from this year and make it more wonderful next year!
hurray!

I wasn’t sure what to expect but in my head I did have that house covered in Christmas lights singing in time with «I’m sexy and you know it!».
Well needless to say that didnae happen. It was good sharing the experience with my fellow Unilocalers as it made it more interesting trying find out what way we were supposed to go, trying to find things to see and interact with.
I did think there would be more interactive attractions but it was mostly music with various trees and plants lit up. A varied mix of music from dance, lift music to plinky plonky sounds.
It was good to get into the big green house, as I call it, as I haven’t been in there since high school and that was very long time ago now. *Sniff* It did get a bit disorientating though as it’s a rotunda and we nearly went round again. Haha!
There was street performers wandering about including fire eaters and I can’t even describe the others. Let’s just call it art.
If you want something different to do it’s worth popping along to check out. It’s their first go at doing it but I think it could get better if they go for it again next year.

The Electric Garden is tracked onto the West End Festival, and is taking advantage of the popularity of the many light exhibitions we’ve seen around here over the past few years.
This was one of my favourite events since becoming a Unilocaler. A group of us grabbed a munch at the Oran Mor, and headed across the road to the first night of the Electric Gardens at the Botanics.
This, I thought was a really well organised event –the staff had a list of names of ticket holders so no-​one else could get through — once you discovered which entrance to use! Entry was by time slots — on the hour. The idea is that most folks will only take about 45 mins to have a wander round, so there’s no-​one trying to schedule you and kick you out.
The lights were awesome and we had a great, slow walk around — very relaxing! I thought that there were probably not enough interactive aspects, however given that this is the first event, they did a great job of working with what they had, and with a limited budget.
My favourite part was being able to see the statues in Kibble Palace lit up — and I can’t wait to go back again with my real camera and get some decent photos :)
Electric Gardens is on until 14^th Feb 2015.

On Friday evening I got to hang out in the park in the dark with some of the lovely Unilocal Glasgow Hotties.
Don’t be confused we we’re regressing back to our youth and hanging around the park in the dark drinking Hooch & 20/​20, I realise you will only get this reference if you were in School in the 1990’s in Scotland… anyway I digress. We were not hanging about for no reason, we were in fact on a night out to the Botanic Gardens to enjoy the Electric Gardens which is part of the West End Festival program of activities in the city.
When we arrived we were greeted with atmospheric music and found the gardens was awash with colour and twinkly lights… anyone who knows me knows I am a complete sucker for some fairy lights so I was a bit like a kid in a candy shop. As we wandered round the gardens we found some lovely areas including a giant disco ball, a little fairy light walk way (my personal favourite), a giant ice lolly, some seriously freaky floating dresses and the old subway station which you look down into was full of dry ice and ‘scare the bejesus out of you’ music… not my favourite bit… eeek!
While the rest of the Unilocal crew headed off the to pub for a warming beverage Mr G and myself headed to Pommes Frites for some post wander chips and then home.
I had a lovely time and felt it was good value for money.

Great to see more of these things popping up following the success of Electric Glen. We had been to the Rouken Glen one last year, and the Botanics event was definitely better.
The main improvement is the fact that it isn’t mobbed — there is a decent crowd, but it’s by no means busy, and I think there was about a 5 – 10 minute spell where I didn’t see another person. This meant you could take your time and enjoy it, and you could take everything at your own pace.
Overall, they did a pretty good job. There were lots of interesting bits and bobs to make things fun, and it was great to wander about Kibble Palace with all the lights on. There perhaps could have been a bit more interactive stuff, but I’m probably being a little picky. A couple of food trucks or a snack shop would have also been brilliant.
For a first year it was a great start, and the missing star will probably get added in year two. For a tenner (£8 in advance) this is well worth a visit.

As soon as I heard about this event, I knew I had to go. Having grown up only a few minutes from the Botanics, it’s a park I’ve known all my life, and I love seeing how it changes through the seasons. Adding lights and music brings something new to the starkness of the winter Botanic landscape.
We went on Friday night. I’d had a very stressful few days at work, was running late, and was kinda up to high doh. We didn’t have time to have dinner, so grabbed some chips out of Old Salty’s on the way, just to add a touch of class to the proceedings.
Once inside Sparkle Park, I immediately relaxed. I wasn’t sure what to expect — I thought maybe we would be shown around, but we were left to wander at our own pace, and it was so tranquil. It wouldn’t say it’s an exciting experience, but it is very beautiful and calming. The trees and glasshouses are beautifully illuminated, and there are different musical effects throughout — the sounds at the old train station are particularly effective.
I was quite captivated by Twirly Fire Guy, and there’s other cool things throughout — I don’t want to spoil the surprise, so won’t say more.
It would be ace if this came back as an annual event, perhaps with the additions of mulled wine and roasted chestnuts. And they should definitely call it Sparkle Park :-) Overall I would say it was magical, and I felt so relaxed when we left.
Definitely an event to catch before it ends.

I’m a fan of the Botanics, and when I saw Electric Gardens announced I knew I just had to grab some tickets. The early bird price was really reasonable too, at £8 per adult (full price is £10 per adult).
First point to note is that you need to enter from Queen Margaret Drive, opposite the old BBC Building. There could be better signage about this around the top of Byres Road as we really didn’t know where to enter from (the info is on the website but I hadn’t looked as I assumed the entrance was at the Byres Rd junction).
We were booked for 7pm but it didn’t actually seem to matter about a start time as it’s a walk-​at-​your-​own-​pace kind of thing rather than it including performances (like Electric Glen at Rouken Glen). You can wander through Kibble Palace as well as follow the path through the Botanics. It was mostly well sign-​posted so you didn’t need to worry too much about the fact it was really dark, and spotted around were staff members in case you had any questions. The toilets are also open, and you can pop to Java at the Police Box to grab a coffee/​hot drink or something to eat beforehand.
The actual display itself was really lovely and quite tranquil — gorgeous lighting on different parts of the Botanics that maybe you’d never noticed before. There was accompanying music and in parts it was perfectly matched to the lights. Part-​way through there was performers with fire which was interesting and loads of people stopped to watch (partly because you couldn’t actually get past them). I enjoyed this part but thought it took a little way from the actual electric gardens themselves.
We’d gone as a really large group (I think there was nearly 20 of us) and while we lost each other along the way, it made for a really fun outing. I’d actually consider going back again as it runs to the 15^th of Feb, and I found it a really enjoyable Friday night.