Wakehurst’s iconic winter light trail returns with a new seed-inspired chapter featuring audio vignettes from Kew Wakehurst Ambassador Cate Blanchett
This winter, Glow Wild returns to Wakehurst, the wild botanic garden of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, with a bold new theme: Seed Safari – A Walk on the Wild Side. From 27 November 2025 to 3 January 2026, Sussex’s award-winning lantern trail invites visitors of all ages to wander into a radiant reimagining of the natural world, where seeds spark stories and the wild glows after dark.
Glow Wild 2025 concludes six months of celebrating 25 years of Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, ending the anniversary year with light, story and a powerful reminder of the seed’s role in shaping our future.
Now in its twelfth year, Glow Wild weaves science with storytelling across a trail of newly commissioned, handcrafted installations from award-winning artists and local makers, including our biggest installation ever. Drawing inspiration from Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, this year’s trail reveals nature’s seed-bearers – wolves, moths, fungi, rivers and even sleeping giants – as magical custodians of renewal and resilience.
Evocative audio vignettes inspired by seeds will be woven into the illuminated landscape. The sound pieces draw inspiration from quotes gathered from staff at the Millennium Seed Bank and our global partners, inviting guests to reflect on the power of nature, collaboration, and storytelling as they journey through the trail. Cate Blanchett, Kew Ambassador for Wakehurst, a passionate advocate for the Millennium Seed Bank, has voiced some of the words visitors will hear as they make their way through the installations.
Other highlights of the 2025 trail include:
Moon River by Ithaca and Michelle Dufaur: Over 13,000 individually programmed lights trace the river’s journey through the landscape, joined by rewilded lantern creatures crafted by Sussex maker Michelle Dufar, including beavers, moths and storks. This is the largest installation ever featured at Glow Wild.
- Polypodipus by OGE Group: A ginormous dreamlike, tentacled plant-creature that pulses with bioluminescent spores in a glowing pondscape, towering above visitors.
- The Night Council by Kerith Ogden: Enter a glowing fungal glade to meet nine mythical nocturnal animals, connected by spores and ancient wisdom.
- The Secret Sea Garden by Same Sky: Dive beneath the waves into a fantastical realm of jellyfish, sea horses and coral, celebrating the ocean’s role in long-distance seed dispersal.
- The Caravan by Brockman Page: A majestic procession of glowing wolves, deer, foxes and an elephant, crafted from hazel and willow (coppiced from Wakehurst woodlands), each carrying precious seeds in their radiant frames.
Also new this year, the Flutterby Garden shimmers with delicate glass wings and wind chimes, while Time Sleeps in the Seeds transforms Wakehurst’s historic Elizabethan Mansion into a living canvas, telling the story of the seed bank through light and sound.
At the end of the trail, the Story Fire Circle offers a warm welcome, where visitors can gather beneath the winter sky to share tales, sing songs and toast marshmallows beside flickering flames.
Glow Wild 2025 also unveils a significantly enhanced catering experience, with an expanded range of warming street food, sweet treats and warming winter drinks available throughout the trail. On select nights, visitors can purchase additional tickets for a special evening dining experience in the beautifully decorated Elizabethan Mansion, adding an elegant new dimension to Glow Wild.
Key Information:
- Dates: Selected evenings from 27 November 2025 to 3 January 2026
- Time: Entry from 00pm to 10.00pm
- Location: Wakehurst, Sussex
- Prices: From £13.50, with under 4s going free
- Tickets: Flexible tickets available – swap your ticket up to a week before. Group tickets available. Pre-booking is essential at kew.org/glowwild
With free parking onsite and excellent public transport links just 10 minutes from Haywards Heath station, Glow Wild is easily reached from Brighton and London Gatwick.
This winter, walk among glowing giants, mythical animals and luminous landscapes – and let nature ignite your imagination.
Image: Glow Wild at Wakehurst – Jim Holden © RBG Kew
