Festival of Lights at Longleat

At the start of January I took my kids and parents to longleat to see the amazing Festival of Lights. Lord Bath employed 40 chinese people to put together the amazing display. He also employed another 20 to do live displays. It took over 6 months to build the whole display. It is utterly worth all that effort as it is a breathtaking display. 

I got a programme as a keepsake and stupidly didn't have a look at it until we were almost ready to go. I realised there was a bit of information on the history behind each of the lights. Although I don't have photos of all the lights, I will share the information with the photos I do have. 

The first is The China Gate. 

Gates like this were used to mark the entrance to temples, mausoleums and towns. This gate is inspired by one in Beijing with glazed tiles and varved beams.

This is the Porcelain Dragon 

In China, the dragon is a noble creature. It is powerful, decisive, intelligent and a good omen. This one is 70 meters long and made up of more than 15,000 pieces of porcelain tied together by hand. Including plates, bowls, egg cups and spoons. 

The Mushroom Garden 

China is the world's largest producer of edible mushrooms. Mushrooms were used to dye wool and textiles, long ago. Certain types are used by traditional Chinese herbalists for healing while others are used for their hallucinogenic effects during rituals and other occurances. 

The Temple of Heaven

The original Temple of Heaven is a series of buildings in central Beijing, which were built about 600 years ago. The Emperor would pray for good harvest.
This Temple is a third of the size of the original but at 20 meters high it is still an impressive sight.

Blessing of the Qilin

Qilin (pronounced chee-lin) are harmless, mythical creatures. They are the highest ranking of the four Chinese spirits. They have the head of a dragon and the body of a tiger or deer. 

The four Qilin are presenting a giant pearl as a blessing.

These are different to the other lanterns in the display. They are made up of 65,000 small medicine bottles filled with coloured water and tied together to create the shapes. 

They are by far my favourite of all the lanterns. 

A Pagent of Peonies

Peonies are the national flower of China and represent prosperity and nobility. These beauties line the pathway behind Longleat house.

The Animal Zone 

Walking along the side of the lake, we were surrounded by 200 animals both on land and in the lake. I loved the lions poised in front of the house on a miniature pride rock! 

The animals were all made by stretching silk over a wire frame and hand painting each face for individuality. 

I took a video of all the animals which you can view here. I hope it gives you a feel for how impressive the display reall was. It is understandable that it took 6 months to put it all together. I will definitely be going again next year asit is definitely worth every penny!