Lightopia London 2021 festival Crystal Palace park

LIGHTOPIA London Festival, Crystal Palace Park

Hey everyone,

The enchanting lantern and light festival has begun in London, UK. Yes, I am talking about Lightopia, London’s largest Christmas light display. The festival will run from 17th November 2022 to 2nd January 2023 (the event is cancelled for 2023-2024) at the historic Crystal Palace Park, London. In this article, I will be sharing the best things to see and do at Lightopia, the great festival of light show.  

Everything you need to know about Lightopia:

Before I share my experience with this festival, let me share some details regarding the event. 

Lightopia London Date:

19th nov 2021 – 2nd jan 2022

Lightopia, Location:

Crystal Palace Park, London

Is it Free To Visit Lightopia?

No. You need to buy the tickets online and book a slot before visiting the light festival.

Tickets for adults – £  22.50 , Children (3-15) – £ 15.50 

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How Much Time It takes To Walk Around The Christmas Light Trail?

It takes around 90 -120 minutes to walk around the Christmas light trail at Crystal Palace Park. It completely depends on how much time you’d like to spend viewing each installation or light display.

Are there toilets At the venue, Lightopia London?

Yes! (At the entrance and middle of the park)

Is Food Available At Lightopia, London Venue?

Yes! There are a few food joints selling burgers, hot dogs, mulled wine, and snacks that you can have while walking on the light route.

Best Things To See & Do At Lightopia London:

It is my first time visiting Lightopia, the award-winning light show. We pre-booked our tickets and evening 5.30 Pm time slot for the 2nd day of the festival (20th November). 

Honestly, I didn’t expect too many visitors at this fest, but how wrong was I.  The festival was crowded with kids and adults alike, totally hit!

The crystal Palace park is spacious and is decorated with various immersive interactive light installations and displays. This year, the main installation design theme is rebirth. And the beautiful light installations and lanterns, laser light shows, everything reflects the theme. 

The festival also features a 5 minutes stunning laser light show, the palace of light displayingthe rebirth of Crystal Palace. You can see the amazing light show in this video

ALSO READ: Christmas at Kew Festival, London | Things to see & do

YOU CAN WATCH THE VIDEO HERE🙂

Now, the highlights of Lightopia, 2021

1. Guardian Gate

At the entrance, the Guardian Gate welcomes you to the great festival of light, Lightopia. Here you’ll have to show your online tickets to  enter the festival. 

Guardian gate. Lightopia London 2021 festival Crystal Palace park
Guardian Gate

There are a few fun rides that you can experience with your kids.

2. Christmas & Kids Zone

The light trail begins with a beautiful Christmas tree installation. There are cute illuminating Christmas gift packages and round ball-shaped light displays dotted along the path. The soft Christmas music with those light installations all together gave me that Christmas vibe in November. Trust me! They also make for perfect spots for cute photos.

Christmas & kids zone. Lightopia London 2021 festival Crystal Palace park
Christmas & Kids Zone

3. Phoenix

It’s the first light show that we came across while wandering around the lighting trail. A 10-meter-long Phoenix set on 50,000 square feet of lights illuminating in different colors with beautiful music. The enchanting show lasts for about 1.5 minutes. 

Phoenix. Lightopia London 2021 festival Crystal Palace park
Phoenix

4. Interactive  Floor

As you pass through the food joints, you’ll find one of the interactive displays, the musical floor that will play notes as you step on them! The quick tip is to exert a lot of pressure when you step on the floor; it won’t work otherwise. (See this video for reference). 

tree lighting, Lightopia London 2021 festival Crystal Palace park
Tree Lighting

As you move forward, you’ll see another stunning tree light display. A dazzling light show of 22 breathtaking trees that symbolizes unity and growth!

ALSO READ: A Visitor’s Guide to Natural History Museum London | Best Tips & Info

5. Pretty  Floral Lighting

Along the trail, you’ll discover the wondrous floral zone filled with beautiful lanterns and light displays. I couldn’t guess all the flowers except for the roses and sunflowers, but they all look so pretty! 

Floral lighting. Lightopia London 2021 festival Crystal Palace park
Floral Lighting

Did you know, each of the lanterns displayed in this festival is handmade and hand-painted using the traditional Chinese technique? How creative! 

6. Butterfly Field

The next zone is the Butterfly field, wherein several various-sized, cute, colorful, interactive butterfly light installations are on display. 

Butterfly field, Lightopia London 2021 festival Crystal Palace park
Butterfly Field

7. Life Balance

Next, the trail leads you to the fantastic illuminating installation, The Life Balance!

Life balance, lightopia London 2021 festival Crystal Palace park
Life Balance

In the same vicinity, you’ll also see cute animal light displays, featuring the theme REBIRTH! Ah, the kids would love to get photographed with these cuties.

8. Hourglass

You definitely cannot miss out on this stunning hourglass-shaped light installation!

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9. The Palace Of Light Show

The main highlight of the Lightopia 2021 festival is this laser light show. The historical Crystal Palace Park was officially opened in 1854 to celebrate, educate, entertain people.  And, Lightopia, The Palace of Light show stunningly displays the rebirth of Crystal Palace in just 5 minutes! Isn’t it cool? Mr. Husband and I enjoyed the show so much! I am sure, you’ll also love it. 

Palace of light show, Lightopia London 2021 festival Crystal Palace park
Palace of light show

10. Magical Animals

As you progress along the route, you’ll discover the magical animal kingdom wherein the mystical, mythical creatures welcome you wholeheartedly.

Magical animals, Lightopia London 2021 festival Crystal Palace park
Magical Animals

11. Dinosaur Zone

The enchanting fancy forest leads you to the kingdom of dinosaurs! This year, you’ll see Lightopia London’s animatronic & digitally projected dinosaurs along with the famous Crystal Palace park  Dinosaurs. 

Dinosaur zone, Lightopia London 2021 festival Crystal Palace park
Dinosaur Zone

This Christmas light trail couldn’t be more exciting without the new Dinos! I had so much fun in my favorite zone, haha 😃.

You’ll also find cute displays like the panda family, swan family, frog family, etc along the Christmas light walk. 

Lightopia London 2021 festival Crystal Palace park
Lightopia London 2021

The Lightopia light trail ends with the beautiful flower light displays.

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Do I recommend Visiting Lightopia festival?

Lightopia is regarded as London’s largest Christmas light display, so obviously, the tickets are costly. I felt the lighting and displays could have been better considering Crystal Palace Park’s size and the festival’s exorbitant price. Most of the areas were dark. Moreover, except for two of us and three other visitors, no one wore a face mask, no social distancing, and there was none from the organization to check these things. 😞

Lightopia festival is for all age groups, but it is undoubtedly the best for kids. The Christmas vibe, beautiful illuminating trees,  delicious refreshments, impressive interactive lanterns, and light installations including the Palace of Lanterns (created using 3D mapping projection), mystical creatures and Dinosaurs, everything makes the Lightopia 2021 festival perfect place for a Christmas family outing

If it’s your first time, then definitely pay a visit with your family to this wondrous winter wonderland of illumination.

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So, now, tell me, have you been to the Lightopia London 2021 festival? If yes, then share your experience with me in the comment section below.

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49 thoughts on “LIGHTOPIA London Festival, Crystal Palace Park”

  1. MELANIE EDJOURIAN

    I’ve been wanting to take the kids to something like this. It really is such a great place to visit to get them in the Christmas spirit. We’d take our masks though!!!

  2. I’ve not done any light shows yet this year, but this one looks like a good once. I’ve done Kew Gardens before and that was nice x

  3. I love their floral lightning. It was one of my favorites. I hope they continue this festival and make it every year

  4. Wow! This look’s absolutely amazing and incredible! I really love seeing Christmas lights ! I enjoy reading this!

  5. I love driving around look at the lights at night and seeing all the decorations around the neighborhood and town. It’s such a fun family tradition…what a beautiful display at the park! This certainly gets you into the spirit of the season!

  6. I so want too see this beautiful light show! I always enjoy these in the Holiday season and brings out the kid in you….. Thank you!

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