The Idaho Botanical Garden is preparing to light up the Treasure Valley again this holiday season, with its annual Winter Garden Aglow display set to run from Nov. 27 through Dec. 30. This year’s show brings a brand-new feature called the Lake of Lights, described as a river of light stretching across Outlaw Field.
According to KBOI, the Garden is lighting 900,000 lights for this year’s event. That figure differs from what appears on the Idaho Botanical Garden’s own events page, which describes the display as featuring more than 500,000 twinkling lights illuminating the Garden, according to idahobotanicalgarden.org. The two counts don’t match up, and the available information doesn’t explain whether they reflect different years, displays, or counting methods.
A New Centerpiece Along Outlaw Field
The Lake of Lights is the headline addition this season, built as a sprawling river of light that stretches across Outlaw Field, per the station’s report. It joins the Garden’s existing walkway displays as visitors make their way through the grounds after dark.
Last year’s event marked the Garden’s 29th season of Winter Garden aGlow, when organizers announced more than 850,000 lights illuminating the grounds, according to the Garden’s own November 2025 announcement. That same release noted the event was introducing several fresh experiences for the 2025 season, and that the Trains, a long-awaited favorite, had returned after a hiatus.
Funding Year-Round Garden Programs
Beyond the spectacle, Winter Garden aGlow serves a practical purpose for the nonprofit Garden. As the Garden’s largest annual fundraiser, Winter Garden aGlow directly supports educational programming, sustainable horticulture, and community events year-round, the organization has said. The event has become one of the region’s most established holiday traditions, drawing crowds from across the Treasure Valley each winter…