Lightscape has returned to Kings Park and Botanic Garden to light up winter 2025! For its third year, the popular event is back bigger, brighter and more breathtaking with new installations designed around the theme ‘pollinators”. The immersive experience of light and sound is fantastic for young and old. Take a wander around the 2km pathway amongst rainbow trees, through lazers, past flames, and the spectacular Winter Cathedral.
The event sold out in 2024, so book a little in advance, particularly if you’d like to visit on a dry winter’s night. There is a box office at the gate, though I’d recommend booking online. Lightscape will go ahead in the event of rain, so be sure to rug up in your favourite beanie and dress appropriately. We visited on a chilly winter’s night, so a thick jacket and wooly beanie kept us warm. Entry is just near the Yorkas Nyinning building, which is not far from the main carpark, on Lovekin Drive.
The pathway is fully paved, and prams/strollers are welcome. The entry is staggered in 15 minute slots, the earliest being 5.30pm. No knowing what to expect with crowds and parking, we arrived a little earlier and found that the food trucks at the entry opened about 5pm. I found parking in the main carpark fine, arriving early, on a weeknight. I have heard parking is hard to find at peak times. There are free shuttle busses / CAT busses to Kings Park which are available from the city and Elizabeth Quay bus port too. There’s a good range of food trucks, and a bar with mulled wine, cocktails and more. We grabbed a bit to eat from the New York style pizza food truck.
We enjoyed the peperoni Pizza and I love the crisp arancini (GF). There’s plenty of seating too.
How long the trail takes you depends on your pace (especially if you have those with very little legs!), and how often you might like to stop, admire the lights and take photos. On average, it’s best to allow 90 minutes to enjoy the full experience.
There’s stunning colours lighting up the towering gum trees.
This year, there’s lots of installations that include local children’s drawings of flowers and birds.
The lantern art is just beautiful.
There are several toilet stops along the trail. There are also a few hills to climb, but we were so busy looking at the lights, we hardly noticed! There are a couple of refreshment stalls too.
So much to see and take in.
My favourite was the new dangling light tunnel – for want of a better name!
It was really good fun!
And be sure to grab a selfie in the beautiful Winter Cathedral, surrounded by thousands of lights.
I grabbed a hot chocolate for the drive home – what a lovely night!
Lightscape Kings Park is on Wednesday to Sunday (and Tuesdays in the School Holidays), now until 27 July. Get ready to see Kings Park in a whole new light!
Get your Lightscape tickets here.
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Amanda Carlin has her own food and travel blog. Established in 2013, “The Chef, His Wife and Their Perth-fect Life” has enjoyed an exciting name change in 2021, as “The Chef’s Ex-wife” embarks on new adventures with Simply PERTHfect. Amanda loves getting out and about in Perth and WA, as well as brunching, tapas or something a little fancy in equal measures. With her son “Little Chef” in tow, Amanda always has plenty of family friendly eating options to recommend too! Be sure to check out Simply PERTHfect.
