LIGHT UP YOUR FESTIVE SEASON
After Durban’s devastating floods in April, a team of landscapers has been hard at work to get Africa’s oldest surviving botanic gardens — based in the city — in pristine shape for the Trail of Lights festival in December.
The floods resulted in the gardens suffering extensive damage and put the festival in jeopardy. But work has been under way to restore the gardens and ensure the sixth annual Durban Botanic Gardens Trail of Lights is a success.
Visitors can look forward to aweinspiring lighting displays and vibey live entertainment. Santa’s Grotto, magical festive characters, charity-hosted Santa’s Workshop, KZN’s brightest Christmas tree, a Secret Garden of Lights hidden in the trail, new horticultural displays and two food gardens are some of this year’s highlights.
“The event is the Durban Botanic Garden’s biggest fundraiser and showcases Africa’s oldest surviving botanic garden. A percentage of the proceeds goes to the Durban Botanic Gardens Trust, to continue the work of developing and maintaining this important city asset as a garden of excellence,” says event organiser Alene Naidoo.
Since it kicked off in 2017, about 300,000 people have attended the Trail of Lights, which features just over a million LED lights.
Naidoo says apart that from the floods, the event was severely affected by Covid and the accompanying restrictions on the events industry.
“Preparation work such as planting and maintenance usually begins well in advance at the Durban Botanic Gardens, but because of the national lockdown, plans were delayed.
“Knowing how much this event meant to many families, hundreds of staff, vendors and charities, the team banded together and adapted to ensure that the event remained safe, compliant and able to trade during two of the toughest years the event industry has ever encountered,” she says.
City growth puts pressure on green public urban spaces and services, so assets such as the Durban Botanic Gardens are a refuge for plants and people, offering rich insight into the natural world, in a safe cultivated public garden space.
“The Trail of Lights not only boosts tourism to the city but also promotes a greater sense of community and spirit of giving back,” says Durban Botanic Gardens curator Martin Clements. “The community-directed ethos is a vital part of what makes it so special. “Botanic gardens globally are rich learning places that attract a wide cross-section of society and are important socially cohesive spaces,” he says.
Clements believes the gardens, with their unique ambience and stately wellestablished trees, provide the perfect backdrop for the Trail of Lights.
The event runs from December 2 2022 to January 2 2023. Two “Paws and Claus” nights on December 4 and 11, when visitors can bring along their dogs, have been added to this year’s festival. Proceeds will go towards Feeding the Furballs.