The popular Wiltshire event attracts around 150,000 visitors each year
The Cyclops – part of this year’s Festival of Light at Longleat(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
Behind-the-scenes secrets have emerged as one of Wiltshire’s most visited tourist destinations gears up for a major seasonal spectacle. Longleat Estate has staged its popular Festival of Light since 2014, drawing around 150,000 visitors.
However, beneath the sparkle and spectacle, there are staff to house, installations – including the celebrated singing Christmas tree – to be built and maintained, and vehicles to be accommodated.
An application to Wiltshire Council seeks permission for all three.
According to the report, Longleat hopes to capture the zeitgeist with an illuminated Wooden Horse of Troy – re-popularised by the Hollywood movie hit Odyssey – as part of this year’s theme, Legendary Worlds.
Visitors will be invited to explore the lost city of Atlantis and meet the gods, heroes and monsters of ancient Greece, along with the Vikings and the court of King Arthur.
The festival will run between November 7 and January 10, between 4pm and 8.30pm.
Organisers wish to install temporary surfacing to accommodate parking for hundreds of vehicles, alongside temporary lighting to assist families navigating to and from their cars.
The planning application highlights that guest arrivals are staggered throughout the day, with numbers restricted.
The Estate also seeks to supply temporary accommodation for roughly 70 staff members.
This will comprise seven 10-berth static caravans.
Meanwhile, the expansive coach park will be covered with marquees and utilised for assembling and maintaining the giant lanterns.
The planning application highlights that the Festival of Light has evolved into an “established and popular feature of the Longleat calendar”, contributing to 15 per cent of the estate’s annual visitor numbers.
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