Halloween at Kew is a mysterious and wonderful experience which highlights the dark, spooky and enchanted night walk at Kew Gardens.
The sounds of carnivorous plants eating and devouring, the mysterious mycelium lights, the bubbling witch’s cauldron, frogs croaking and the eeriness of a carrousel playing at the Cirque De Nuit are just a few of the sights as Kew comes to life for Halloween.
Back for a second year, and this time bigger and spookier, the 1.5km trail takes over an hour to navigate and weaves visitors through the botanicals with immersive art and performances in a sensory masterclass – with dressing up encouraged.
The event did not just come out the ground like a zombie in the night, however, as much thought and imagination went into making the tombstone-strewn, cobwebbed trail a reality.
Showcasing Kew Gardens’ transformation from day to night is no easy feat and the organisers learnt from last year that people love surprises and contrast, which has added to this year’s allure.
Indeed, with a plethora of installations and worlds to explore, it’s easy for visitors to lose the sense of where they really are.
RBG Kew’s head of event operations Dáire Basra said: “There’s an eeriness to some sections, a sense of mischief in others, but overall, it’s about joy and imagination.
“It’s Halloween through the eyes of Kew: creative, beautiful, and a little bit otherworldly.”
Designing around a living landscape, with lights and sound throughout, always comes with its complex challenges, be it the uneven ground or vast open spaces planners have to work with.
Yet Halloween at Kew, partnered with RG Live and Culture Creative Ltd, produces a luminous spectacle for all to see, showcasing the difference of the gardens during daylight, twilight and moonlight.
Kew Gardens truly transforms at night, when the lights draw attention to textures and forms which may have been otherwise overlooked in the day.
This covers everything from the way the leaves look to how a twisted branch changes in the shadows.
Halloween at Kew complements the science and conservation the gardens are universally known for, with every ticket sold for the event helping fund vital research into plant diversity and climate resilience.
One of the biggest challenges in the botanical gardens is the amount of protected plant and tree life.
Kew’s horticultural teams had input with every element to prioritise plant and tree protection, and the trail is mapped months in advance to avoid root zones and sensitive habitats, plus selecting lighting which has minimal heat and glare to minimise ecological impact.
Each area has its own soundscape which takes visitors out of Kew and into Halloween.
Strategically-placed speakers leave those on the walk looking over their shoulders, especially when they hear the wailing screams behind them with Death looking on in front.
The lighting causes the trees and surroundings to change colours – purples, reds, greens and even UV lights all in use, all placed with care.
Basra said: “For us, authenticity comes from respecting the landscape and celebrating nature at every turn.
“Even when we’re creating something atmospheric or spooky, the plants are the stars.
“The light, music, and storytelling all respond to the environment rather than competing with it.”
There’s a spectacular mycelium light show with eerie and tense music playing as you walk through a laser show of spores through the trees, an instalment that’s authentically Kew.
There are characters placed throughout the experience such as the Grim Reaper, a corpse bride, and even a giant spider which stands over three metres tall and jumps out to cause mischief.
There’s much more to see, though, like carnivorous plants, spectral skeletons at the graveyard, Frankenstein and his monster – the list goes on.
This year also brings a fire show at the Cirque De Nuit’s Family Inferno with small almost continuous acts through the night.
Performers woo and amaze the crowds with their circus tricks, visitors in fancy dress watching on in wonder, culminating with spectacular fire tricks which can be watched while roasting marshmallows over a skull-and-bone-laden firepit.
Halloween at Kew brings out the best of mixing horticulture (plants), mycology (fungi) and dendrology (trees), but cloaked with an aurora of spookiness, wander and morbid curiosity.
The theatrical fire displays, the sounds of the damned and the lights of mystical realities really makes this a sight for the senses for both adults and children alike.
The gardens come alive at night.
Halloween at Kew runs until 2 November and tickets are available via the website.
All images: Dicken Richards
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