Dominion Energy GardenFest of Lights returns to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden on November 23. This season it runs through more than the familiar grounds. In May, the Garden opened what WTVR described as a $31 million expansion. It added about 7.5 acres and roughly doubled the Conservatory. The Garden's GardenFest page says the 2026–27 event "extends into our new gardens and expanded Conservatory." None of that ground was open to the public during last year's show.
For households in Ginter Park and the rest of Northside, the Garden sits just north on Lakeside Avenue in Henrico. Many of them have walked GardenFest so many times they could do it in the dark. This year, that loop is only part of the event. The new ground and a calendar of overlapping special nights reward a neighbor who plans the visit as a first trip rather than a repeat.
The Acres That Opened in May
The expansion opened to the public on Saturday, May 23, 2026. As WRIC reported at the opening, the project added 7.5 acres, expanded the Conservatory and introduced a year-round butterfly exhibit in a subtropical house. The Garden's own description adds more than 7 acres of meadows with plantings that are over 70 percent native.
If your last evening visit was the 2025 run, these are the names to look for on the map this year:
| New space | What it is |
|---|---|
| Wick Lake | Enlarged to four acres. It serves as wildlife habitat and as a stormwater-treatment and irrigation resource. |
| Martha's Way | The new walking trail around Wick Lake |
| Jane Hartough Outdoor Classroom | A lakeside space for water-based learning |
| Ann Lee's Meadow | A butterfly-shaped meadow with a strolling path and informal plantings |
| Anne Cummings White Garden | A hillside habitat garden east of the Conservatory that shifts from meadow to woodland on the way down to Lake Sydnor |
| Mary Morton Parsons Courtyard | A courtyard outside the Conservatory Exhibition Gallery, with a moon gate and views across the Garden |
| Kroger Courtyard | A demonstration garden for backyard agriculture and nutrition, built alongside an expanded Kroger Community Kitchen Garden |
The Garden hasn't published a display-by-display map of where the lights go in the new areas. The event page describes "landscapes inspired by ancient legends, beloved stories, and imagined futures" under this year's Otherworldly theme, with "delightful surprises waiting around every corner." So the new acres are the part of the route a longtime visitor can't predict.
The Conservatory Is Now Twice the Size
The Conservatory has the clearest changes. It has doubled in size and now holds four climate zones. They are the Desert House, the Jeannette Lipman Mediterranean House, a two-story Tropical Rainforest House and the Subtropical House. The new West Entrance Atrium is a conditioned entry with seating and restrooms. It connects to the Subtropical House, the Tropical Rainforest House, the Butterfly Emergence Gallery and the Exhibition Gallery.
The Subtropical House holds Butterflies Bloom, the Garden's new permanent, year-round butterfly exhibit. It features hundreds of butterflies, displays on their life cycle and an observation window into the care work behind the scenes.
Two GardenFest traditions are still indoors. The volunteer-built Fairy Village is in the Conservatory Exhibition Hall, and the model train displays are in the Kelly Education Center. Outside, there's hot chocolate, seasonal treats and a fire pit for s'mores, with food and drinks sold throughout the Garden. A bigger footprint also means a longer walk between warm stops, which matters on a cold night. The event runs rain, shine or snow.
A Calendar With Overlapping Nights
GardenFest runs November 23 through January 3, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. The Garden is closed Thanksgiving Day and December 24 and 25. Within that run, the special nights overlap more than they seem to at first. Here is how the season stacks up, week by week:
- Friday, Nov. 20, through Sunday, Nov. 22: Members-only preview weekend, before the public opening
- Monday, Nov. 23: Public opening night. It's also a free member night and the first GardenFest for Fidos night, when well-behaved, leashed dogs can come along
- Tuesday, Nov. 24: A free member night and the first performance night with local musicians and entertainers
- Thursday, Nov. 26: Closed for Thanksgiving
- Mondays, Nov. 30, Dec. 7, Dec. 14 and Dec. 28: More Fidos nights
- Tuesdays, Dec. 1, Dec. 8 and Dec. 15: More performance nights
- Wednesday, Dec. 2, and Thursday, Dec. 3: GardenFest for Grownups, an adults-only evening
- Wednesday, Dec. 30: GardenFest for Grownups for ages 18 and up. It's also a free member night
- Friday, Jan. 1, through Sunday, Jan. 3: Free member nights to close the season
The overlaps are useful for a household close enough to make more than one trip. A member with a dog can go on opening night for free and bring the dog, since November 23 is both a member night and a Fidos night. November 24 combines free member admission with the first performances. December 30 is the one night that is both adults-only and free for members. Free member nights still require an advance online reservation. Performers and set times will be announced later.
If you're bringing a dog, read the Garden's rules for visiting with dogs before you go.
Ticket Prices Change With the Date
GardenFest uses peak and non-peak pricing, so the night you choose sets the price. Thanksgiving week shows the gap. On the Garden's ticket portal, the highest general ticket price for Wednesday, November 25, is $26. On Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving, it is $29. Both evenings offer arrival windows from 4:00 to 8:30 p.m. For a family of four, those few dollars a ticket add up, and a weeknight is often the easier evening for a household that lives nearby.
Capacity is set by arrival window, and popular dates and times can sell out. The Garden may sell a limited number of walk-up tickets, but same-day entry isn't guaranteed and walk-ups carry extra fees. All GardenFest tickets are non-refundable. Optional ticket insurance, bought at checkout, lets you move your tickets once to another available date or arrival time.
Getting There From Northside
The Garden calls parking "limited," especially on peak nights. It suggests carpooling from home or a meeting spot, or using rideshare. For Northside households, a short trip up the road still runs into the same Lakeside Avenue arrival line as everyone else's. The Garden's policy helps here. If delays at the Garden make you miss your arrival window, staff will work with you when you get there.
A plan for a neighborhood household, based on the Garden's own guidance:
- Choose a date first, then an arrival window. On some evenings a weeknight costs less than the weekend that follows it.
- Members should reserve free nights online ahead of time and look at November 23, November 24 and December 30, where the special nights overlap.
- Decide whether ticket insurance is worth it for your household before checkout, since that's the only time you can buy it.
- Carpool from home or meet neighbors at a set spot, and allow extra time.
- Leave room in the evening for the Conservatory, the Fairy Village and the Kelly Education Center trains, as well as the new outdoor ground.
- Dress for the weather, because the event goes ahead in rain or snow.
GardenFest is one of several seasonal traditions on this side of town. In September, Ginter Park's OystoberFest sent its oyster shells to reef restoration, and our MacArthur Avenue field guide follows the changes along that corridor. GardenFest runs every evening from November 23 through January 3, except Thanksgiving and December 24 and 25, and this is the first season the lights reach the new gardens and expanded Conservatory.
Lewis Ginter's expansion is one of the larger changes to Northside in recent years, and the Chris Small Group keeps track of how changes like this affect the neighborhoods nearby. If you'd like to talk about what the Garden's growth means for your Ginter Park home, please schedule a private consultation.
