Trip the light fantastic

Take 90 tonnes of steel, 60,000 bulbs, 40,000 metres of silk and 50,000 hours of work and you’ve got the biggest Chinese lantern festival in Britain.

The light fantastic is at Longleat House in Wiltshire on selected dates to January 6 and features hundreds of illuminated designs made up of more than 1,000 colourful lanterns in 30 acres of Capability Brown landscaped grounds.

This winter’s theme is A Fantastic Voyage, which will send brother and sister Harry and Bea and their four-legged friend Monty travelling through time and space.

The intrepid trio will encounter a hot air balloon, camels, a giant pyramid, dinosaurs, a train, and knights on horseback.

Tickets for Longleat – including The Festival of Light, Winter Safari Drivethrough, Longleat House, and Enchanted Christmas Tree events – start €34 adult/€27 child. longleat. co.uk