Longleat has extended its popular Festival of Light into the new year, adding an extra January weekend to this winter’s event.
The Festival of Light: Legendary Worlds opens at the Wiltshire attraction on 7 November, with more than 1,000 lanterns set to transform the park as visitors explore legendary stories and mythical worlds.
The additional dates follow positive feedback from visitors who enjoyed experiencing the lantern festival during the darker January evenings.
Scott Ashman, Head of Operations at Longleat, said an extra January weekend had been added for 2027, meaning the Festival of Light will now run on selected dates until 17 January.
“With more than 1,000 lanterns across the park, it’s promising to be an incredible event as we invite people to step into Legendary Worlds and discover myths with local foundations such as King Arthur and the Round Table, which can be explored through to world-renowned legends such as the lost city of Atlantis,” he said.
The new event will feature a series of large-scale lantern installations, including King Arthur’s Round Table in the former stable area of Longleat House.
Arthur’s story is one of Britain’s best-known legends, with the West Country playing a prominent role in the wider Arthurian tradition.
Elsewhere on the trail, visitors will be able to walk beneath a giant blue whale as part of the Atlantis-themed displays, taking them into the mythical lost city beneath the sea.
The Festival of Light will also feature seasonal attractions before Christmas, including the chance to travel by train to meet Santa.
Longleat says the decision to extend the event follows the introduction of an additional January weekend last year, when visitor feedback indicated that guests particularly enjoyed seeing the lanterns during the darker winter evenings.
“We opened an extra weekend in January this year and feedback from guests was that they really enjoyed experiencing the event in the dark nights of January,” said Ashman.
“So we’re introducing a second weekend for 2027 and will review feedback as to whether we do more in 2028.”
The Festival of Light was first introduced at Longleat more than a decade ago, with the attraction describing itself as the UK’s original lantern festival. The event began after Longleat brought Chinese lanterns to Europe, following the attraction’s earlier pioneering role in opening a drive-through safari outside Africa in 1966.
This year’s Festival of Light will also mark the conclusion of Longleat’s diamond anniversary celebrations, with the attraction promising further events and activities during 2027.
