Fairytales sparkle into life at the Longleat festival of light

The magic of storytelling is being brought to life as part of Longleat’s spectacular Festival of Light which opens to the public on November 5^th.

Visitors can wander through magical settings depicting famous scenes from Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, The Snow Queen and Beauty and the Beast.

At 25.5 metres Rapunzel’s tower will be the largest lantern ever constructed for the event and a total of 30,000 metres of silk have been used to create the displays – enough to wrap around Longleat House 124 times.

The Wiltshire estate was the first place in the UK to hold such an event back in 2014 and remains the biggest; with a total of 3,000 Chinese lanterns transforming the estate into a winter wonderland.

All the lanterns have been created by a team of highly-skilled artists from Zigong in China’s Sichuan province, which has been staging lantern festivals for more than 2,000 years.

Other displays will feature a life-sized 30 metre long floating galleon on the lake, fire dragons, the Ugly Duckling and the Little Mermaid.

The giant enchanted animated musical Christmas Tree will be returning and the Santa Trains will be transporting visitors to Father Christmas’ wintry woodland home.

Visitors can also experience a winter safari and the illuminated hedge maze and Longleat House will be decorated for an authentic, grandiose Edwardian Christmas.

The Festival of Light opens Fridays to Sundays from November 5^th to 26^th. Daily from December 1^st to January 3^rd (excluding Christmas Day). Special extension announced: Jan 4th-7th 1pm-7.30pm.

For more information, visit their website. Advance booking is essential.