USA TODAY has announced the top 10 Botanical Garden Holiday Lights displays in the country, and Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens’ Gardens Aglow took spot number three. Gardens Aglow made its debut eight years ago in 2015, and for the last five years has been nominated for this award.

“Gardens Aglow is a unique immersive walking experience unlike any other light show display in our area and in the country,” said CEO & President of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Gretchen Ostherr. “To come in third out of the entire nation means everything to us and our tight knit coastal Maine community. We have dedicated staff who design and install the lights each year and we couldn’t do it without them.”

Gardens Aglow was voted 4th best in 2021 and 3rd best in 2020, 2019, and 2018. Each year, a panel of experts and members of the 10Best editorial team select 20 nominees for the lighting display category. The top 10 winners, listed below, are decided by popular vote:

1. A Longwood Christmas at Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
2. Dominion Energy GardenFest of Lights - Norfolk, Virginia
3. Gardens Aglow at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens - Boothbay, Maine
4. Nights of a Thousand Candles at Brookgreen Gardens - Murrells Inlet, South Carolina
5. Dominion Energy Garden of Lights - Richmond, Virginia
6. Lights in Bloom at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens  - Sarasota, Florida
7. Garden Glow at Missouri Botanical Garden - St. Louis, Missouri
8. Illuminations at Botanica - Chicago, Illinois
9. Magic Christmas in Lights at Bellingrath Gardens - Theodore, Alabama 
10. River of Lights at ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden - Albuquerque, New Mexico

Growth at the Gardens

Gardens Aglow has grown in size and in popularity over the last eight years. Back in 2015, 30 staff members strung 200,000 LED lights  - over 14 miles of lights, laid end-to-end - and the display had more than 36,000 visitors. This year, staff and volunteers totaling 100 strung 750,000 LED lights - over 66 miles of lights. There are over 300 lighted sculptures, all created by hand including: three moose, a ruby-throated hummingbird, several ducks, geese, a fox, a turtle, two owls, a dragonfly, 250 flowers, and two dozen assorted mushrooms. While the visitor totals aren’t in just yet – the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens team expects upwards of 110,000 guests to take part in Gardens Aglow through the 2022 season. The Gardens Aglow route, returning as a walking experience after two years as a driving tour, is approximately one mile of beautifully lighted pathways through the central garden areas. 

“Gardens Aglow is one of the largest destinations in the state,” said Ostherr. “To be able to bring this unique experience to visitors is something that is truly special for us.”

Fun Facts About Gardens Aglow

Gardens Aglow is back as an immersive walking experience through the Gardens and integrates the sculptures inspired by the local flora and fauna. Fourteen (14) acres of central gardens have been transformed into a holiday light paradise, which includes over 700 trees and shrubs. It takes the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens team 12 weeks to set up the display and 10 weeks to take it down. The Horticulture team does a lot of lighting, but all staff in the organization lend a hand to make the show a success. A dedicated light-stringer can string about five feet per minute. If that’s the average stringing time, it would take one person well over 2,100 hours to string all of the lights. 

Get Your Tickets Today

If you haven’t reserved your tickets to Gardens Aglow and would like to do so, there are still a couple more weeks left to schedule your visit. You can secure your tickets by clicking here. Gardens Aglow is open in the evening on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and reopens to the public in the evening on December 26th - 31st.