VIVID was just too far and we figured the most lights we'd see anyway would be brake lights. So this year, instead of spending hours crawling through Sydney traffic, we took the teens to a family-friendly display in Shellharbour.
Every night since May 24, Blackbutt Reserve has transformed its woodland into an Enchanted Forest, home to a Lost Astronaut who has crashed his spaceship and needs to fix it. It's a simple story and a great excuse for a celestial light show.
At the ticket checkpoint, there is an expensive array of plastic wands – if you don't want to pay $25 for a light sabre, bring your own torches. Next comes a brilliant walk in the woods along a light trail that follows the story of the Lost Astronaut. There’s clever lighting, from clumps of bulbs waving like flowers in the night breeze to lasers that create the illusion of being trapped in a jail of light bars. The astronaut strolls around in projections between the trees while tinkly tunes play. Little ones will have fun looking for lost pieces of glowing spaceship to help the astronaut rebuild his ship and fly away home.
Fresh batches of people enter every 15 minutes, yet the atmosphere remains chilled and calm, the 6.30pm crowd mostly families prepared to marvel. Wandering through the trees and admiring the lights could take anything from half an hour to an hour. The mud wasn't too bad last Sunday, but after the week's drenching, gumboots would be advisable.
When you emerge, there are food trucks, with pizza, coffee, doughnuts and soft serve for children who'll eat ice-cream in mid-winter.
Winter festivals to celebrate the end of the darkest days and the rebirth of light have been a human tradition since we first lit fires in cave mouths to deter the beasts. Even today, amid the bright lights, smoke machines and clink of commerce, there is something infinitely heartwarming about a cold walk in dark woods with a crowd of friendly families.
Even our teens enjoyed it.
The Enchanted Forest is, however, probably best for younger children, around the Kindy age, when the world is still a place of wonder and they haven't had to be bribed with the promise of good material for TikTok.
The Enchanted Forest – Lost Astronaut is at Blackbutt Forest Reserve in Shellharbour until June 16.
The first session is low-sensory at 5.45pm, with smaller crowds and lower-intensity lights; the last one begins at 9.30pm. Adults $14.50; children $9.50 and infants aged under 2 enter free.
Vivid Sydney is on until June 15.
