Congratulations National Champs! |
Garden wins top honors in ABC’s Great Christmas Light Fight competition |
| Garden Lights, Holiday Nights, the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s popular annual electrical extravaganza, took home top honors among professional light displays on Tuesday during ABC’s The Great Christmas Light Fight. The primetime series, now in its 11th season, pits residential outdoor light displays against each other in a contest judged by a professional designer. The show also features a Heavyweights division during which professional light displays across the country vie for a coveted trophy. “We always knew we put on a fabulous light show, but after 13 years to be honored on the national level like this just validates that all the hard work our staff puts into staging and running this demanding show has paid off,” said Mary Pat Matheson, the Garden’s President & CEO. During Tuesday night’s episode, the Garden competed against River of Lights at the ABQ BioPark Botanical Garden in Albuquerque, NM; the Winter Lantern Festival in New York City; and Galaxy Lights at the Houston Space Center. The Atlanta team shared with the judge and audience that Garden Lights, Holiday Nights is more than just a light show; it enables the Garden to execute its core mission in helping to save the planet. By connecting people with plants, the light show both exposes guests to the Garden’s mission while also supporting it financially, allowing it to perform its critical work. That message apparently won over the heart of the show’s judge and co-host, designer Taniya Nayak. “You took this botanical garden, and it was like you sprinkled Christmas seeds everywhere. And then you cultivated the soil with love, and all of the sudden, it blossomed a Christmas perennial – and it was just magic!” she said. At the end of the episode, filmed during the 2022’s Garden Lights, Nayak awarded Matheson and her team the show’s prized Light Fight trophy, which will be displayed in the Garden’s Visitor Center. The Garden also won a grand prize of $50,000, which will support the Garden’s mission work. The final episode of this season’s The Great Christmas Light Fight airs on December 19. The series can be seen here or streamed on Hulu. Garden Lights, Holiday Nights, which continues through January 14, is presented by Invesco QQQ with support from The Home Depot Foundation, Isdell Foundation, Audi Atlanta, Georgia Power and Primrose Schools. For ticket information, visit atlantabg.org. |
