Christmas lights Wonderlights in Fota House & Gardens
This year I received my first PR invite for Christmas lights. To Fota. As the biggest lover of Christmas lights, I couldn’t refuse.
The event is called Wonderlights and is held every year in Fota, Cork and then at two locations in Dublin (in Malahide and Marlay Park). Although I love lights and have been to Marlay Park once before (at a concert, of course), this was my first time at Wonderlights. I was contacted through my Instagram and originally invited to the opening night, but since it was in Cork and during the week, I had to decline. Luckily, the invitation was extended for the rest of the season and I was able to bring my family and friends with me. (A big shout out to Buck and Hound marketing company who arranged this visit for us)
Wonderlights has been held at these locations since 2019 and always around Christmas, when the parks turn into glowing places. Just imagine the lights and illuminated trees and bushes, music everywhere and projections on buildings and the ground. I was captivated and so were my friends who went with me. In Fota, rainbow tunnels and giant glowing animals (deer, polar bears and others) were waiting for us, boats, snowflakes and koi fish were projected on the ground. They also had an aquatic section and a place made for lovers (just hearts and literally a giant sign saying “love”). What I liked the most was that they put fake glowing plastic water lilies on the pond, boats behind them and pumped fog into it. It was truly magical.
The entire trail went through the gardens in Fota, 1.8 kilometers long. It took us almost two hours to get back to the car, but after running and shouting with joy, we of course stopped for food. I mean, for donuts, hihi, which were freshly fried and sold hot – yum!
There were a lot of people and children there, which was to be expected, but still. The paths were wide enough, so no one stuck to us (except for that random kid who grabbed my jeans…). The background music was also quite loud at times, because the speakers were hung quite close to the path, it gave me a headache yay Buut we were lucky with the weather! You really won’t believe what a big deal it is, but it was supposed to rain and be windy a lot and in the end only a few drops fell down, the wind blew sometimes and the temperature stayed nice and warm. So it didn’t have a completely winter vibe, but the lights were divine!
Fota is a very famous place in Ireland. But it’s not so much because of the gardens where Wonderlights is held. But because of the Wildlife Park right next door. In Ireland we only have two zoos (Dublin and Belfast) and then only the Wildlife Park in Fota. Sometimes you come across animal farms somewhere, but compared to the continent we simply don’t have many exotic animals here (and I completely understand, the climate is not ideal). As for Fota House & Gardens, they are open to the public during the summer months and in addition to the gardens and the giant house, they also offer a Victorian garden and arboretum. We didn’t see much in the dark, but I think it could also be a great place for a trip. More info here.
Fota Wildlife Park is a place I haven’t been to in almost fifteen years in Ireland. Every year I tell myself that I’ll go next year and it never happens. So maybe next year hihi Wildlife Park is located on Fota Island near Cork, the park itself is 100 acres and has been open to the public since the early 1980s. It is a non-profit organization and you can see 30 different species of mammals and 50 different species of birds during your visit. Interestingly, Fota Wildlife Park was only created because Dublin Zoo had nowhere else to expand (Dublin Zoo can be found in Phoenix Park in Dublin). This year, before Christmas, the park was unfortunately hit by bird flu, but they are open again after a few weeks and hopefully not many birds have suffered. I hope even more that I will be able to visit next year. After all, not everything is permanent. For more information about Wildlife Park, visit their official website.
Wonderlights runs until January, they have a reduced entry fee now and I believe they will be back next Christmas – more information can be found on the website. I might head to Dublin next year, I saw they had a Ferris wheel at one of those locations!
