Each year, Descanso Gardens’ nighttime experience masterfully mixes hands-on art installations with atmospheric, luminescent forests, all against a backdrop of uplit trees and shimmery sound effects.
This year’s event, which runs from November 16 through January 4, once again includes the garden’s whimsical model railroad, which will be lit up for the season and filled with miniature replicas of Enchanted’s most recognizable installations (last year it kept me absolutely mesmerized for about 20 minutes).
A few recent changes have carried over to this year’s edition, including a glowing area around the rose garden where you’ll find HYBYCOZO’s familiar 3-D light sculptures, as well as an assortment of food and drink options underneath a cozy pavilion. You’ll find a couple of other snack options by the main lawn, where sculptor Tom Fruin’s kaleidoscopic stained-glass–inspired houses sit flanked by smaller ones that let you push a button to control the lighting—alongside a hypnotic lighthouse-like water tower.
Elsewhere, Enchanted delightedly looks much like it has in the past: A field of faux tulips ripples with waves of twinkling color changes, while the mist-filled “Ancient Forest” still beckons visitors with its straight-out-of-E.T. setting. The event is just as intuitively immersive as ever, and, true to its botanical garden location, the installations’ use of light and shadow emphasize the natural beauty of Descanso’s flora. It’s this sort of refinement that continues to set it apart from most other light shows; Enchanted has a knack for a “less is more” approach while still harboring just enough “more is more” highlights.
If you’re a returning guest, you won’t find much to differentiate each edition—and I think that’s mostly fine when you’re going a full year between visits. But if you’ve also attended the Halloween-themed Carved, the small handful of overlapping installations do start to feel a little familiar. That said, Enchanted is still mostly as magical as always, and though I certainly wouldn’t call the pricing magical, it’s pretty much the going rate for these sorts of events now—the fact that Enchanted has free parking actually gives it a slight edge over many other light-up attractions. Try to stick to the $27 end of the pricing spectrum, if possible (those are most common on Mondays and Tuesdays), otherwise you’ll pay up to $45 during weekends and arounds holidays.
You’ll want to wear comfy shoes, as it’s about a mile walk around Enchanted. The route is clearly marked and the grounds are mostly level, though some of the paths can get a little spongy if it’s rained recently. (You should be fine, though: I attended this year’s opening during a very wet weekend still managed to walk away mud-free.) Make sure you bundle up before you go; lows in La Cañada Flintridge this time of year can hover around the mid-40s, and you’ll need at least an hour to explore all Enchanted has to offer.
