Christmas At The Botanics 2024 is 'magical and spectacular' says RBGE's Raoul Curtis-Machin

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Christmas At The Botanics 2024, the enchanting after-dark trail, featuring breathtaking displays, including Hogwarts-style floating candle and more, is now open at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh on select nights to December 30.  Raoul Curtis-Machin, Director of Horticulture and Visitor Experience at RBGE,shares why this year’s event is a “magical and spectacular” as Graham Walker chats to him, gets first visitor reactions and captures  highlights from this unforgettable festive experience.  Full story now at https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/whats-on/first-look-christmas-at-the-botanics-2024-sparkles-with-hogwarts-like-magic-4877081  TICKETS: Buy your trail tickets in advance at https://bit.ly/catbtickets2024

Transcript

00:00So we're at the Botanic Garden here in Edinburgh and the Christmas Light Show is on now right

00:07on till the 30th December.

00:09So have a look at the website, see us online, we'd love to break the 100,000 and break the

00:13record this year.

00:14We've got special tickets as well, we're splitting it so you've got full price tickets, we've

00:18got an off-peak offer as well which makes it a bit more affordable and we'd love families

00:23to come.

00:24It's just a way to, I think to immerse yourself in that Christmas feeling and now the weather's

00:28turned proper cold, we're looking forward to it.

00:30This is more than a light show, it's about making memories isn't it?

00:33It's making memories, it's also making a magical connection to the gardens and the work we

00:37do here.

00:38So this year we've got new elements of mystery where we connect with the trees more, we connect

00:42with nature.

00:43So we've got the sea of light where you're looking at that magical light effect underwater

00:47from the corals and seaweeds and jellyfish, they just glow like mad.

00:52The firework trees are just spectacular bursts of colour where you feel like you're in the

00:56middle of a burning forest, it's just astonishing.

00:59And then we've got this mysterious threading mycelium effect which are like little fungal

01:03networks which connect with the roots and they blink at each other, connected with mysterious

01:08natural messaging.

01:09So I think this year is particularly special.

01:12We're talking about magic I've got to mention, a bit of a nod to Hogwarts haven't we, with

01:17the floating candles and dare I say, X-mas polygrammas.

01:23Absolutely, I mean this is where if you were to let Harry Potter and his wizarding friends

01:28loose in a garden, this is what you would get.

01:30It really is spectacular.

01:32So the floating candles is a lovely effect of these lit candles, red, gold and brown,

01:36which are just floating ahead of you and mapping your walk up the hillside towards Inverleith

01:40House which has got a fantastic video display for everyone to see.

01:45We have the spiral trees floating over the pond which you can see reflected magically

01:49in the water.

01:50There's the peelet tree which is a vast turner oak, the biggest girth in Scotland.

01:54The tree surgeon was there for a week, wrapping all the lights up around the branches and

01:58that makes a spectacular white and green effect.

02:01Now you've got something called the mycelium network.

02:04Now I even had to look that word up, I wasn't sure what it was about but apparently it's

02:09about, it's a real phenomenon about connecting mushrooms, plants and trees and it pulls us

02:17like the human nervous system, it's almost like it magically comes to life isn't it?

02:21Well some of the scientists refer to a thing called the wood wide web which is this fantastic

02:25network underground of intelligent mycelial threads that work a bit like roots and they

02:30communicate with the trees and the plants.

02:34We think plants don't move but plants can sense things before they come and we've realised

02:38it's these mycelial threads that inform trees and inform the plant neighbourhood if you

02:44like, about what's coming and what's going on.

02:46So this isn't just entertaining, it's educational with some good ecological messaging in as well.

02:53Absolutely, you know we have some fun with the shapes of plants, don't get me wrong,

02:56with the pampas grass and the firework trees but we're also very careful to explain that

03:00work we do, it's all about plant conservation so people get a chance to see these plants

03:05literally in a different light.

03:07So the Royal Botanical Garden continues to do its job and send the messaging out.

03:12Well you know you come and see the garden during the daytime in summer, why miss a third

03:16of it in the dark?

03:17This gives you the chance to come and see it at night time.

03:19And remind us, I think some of the profits go towards all the fantastic work that you

03:24do here globally.

03:25Yeah we do, we work in more than 40 different countries, we help with plant conservation,

03:29we help other countries understand what plants they've got to look after and why.

03:32Right and in fact behind us we've actually got a real lit fire garden.

03:37We have got a real lit fire garden and that's using special oils that are not fossil fuel

03:41based, we're 95% low energy light bulbs, it's mains connected, we've got no generators

03:48here so there's no burning of fossil fuels, so we're about as energy efficient as you

03:52can get.

03:53And the magic does continue doesn't it, right at the end you've got something called the

03:58firework trees where literally, I think it's so breathtaking, it's where bursts of colour

04:03go up into the sky with the trees.

04:06You can see, I mean you stand in the middle of that, it starts off fairly calmly like

04:10a bit of a rainbow ripple and then it just builds up into this big firework crescendo

04:14which explodes right up into the sky, it's phenomenal.

04:17And so Raoul just remind people why should they come this year and help you burst that

04:22record and get it over 100,000 people.

04:25Because this year the botanics guys, these lighting guys, these wizards of the garden

04:30at night have really pulled out all the stops.

04:32We've got the familiar favourites like the Christmas Cathedral but we've got some of

04:35the best new displays you've ever seen in your lives.

04:39It's a bit like picking your favourite child isn't it, but what stands out for you as the

04:43showstopper this year?

04:44It's the firework trees, when you stand in that auditorium of light you just mind, it

04:50blows your mind.

04:51It's very immersive isn't it, it's not just about lights, it's about the sounds, it's

04:55about the smells, it's everything.

04:57It's the sounds and smells, I mean we're surrounded by the music at the moment and what I love

05:00about this situation, well this, what I love about the Botanic Garden light display is

05:05that you're away from the traffic, you're really in the garden, you're safe, you can

05:09just, I don't know, you can just suspend reality and let yourself go.

05:13Yeah, I think you've summed it up perfectly, well as ever, you outdo yourselves every year,

05:19I'm not quite sure what to expect next year, but just remind people that the botanics is

05:25not just for Christmas is it as well?

05:27Oh it's not, please come during the summer time as well, come and see these fabulous

05:31flowers with their more natural colours, you know, they really are enhanced, they have

05:35a different character, a different shape during these displays, but we also, this year for

05:40example, we've had the biggest year for blooms on record, so yeah, it's a stunning garden

05:45at the best of, throughout the year.

05:47Well always a pleasure to speak to you, Merry Christmas.

05:50Merry Christmas to you too, thanks a lot.

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