English Riviera to hold ‘Bay of Lights 2025’ from 28 November to 02 January
Following the resounding success of Bay of Lights 2024, the English Riviera BID Firm working in partnership with Torbay Council has launched dates for the 2025 occasion. Working from 28 November – 02 January, Bay of Lights 2025 guarantees to be even greater and brighter this 12 months, that includes dazzling new points of interest and breathtaking illuminations that may rework the area right into a festive wonderland.
Bay of Lights 2024 noticed a powerful 37% enhance in footfall, marking a big enhance of 1.2 million guests and solidifying the occasion’s standing as a must-visit Christmas spectacle within the Southwest – with overwhelming optimistic suggestions from attendees and native companies alike.
Spanning the picturesque seafronts of Torquay, Paignton, and Brixham, the Bay of Lights options an array of enchanting occasions designed to thrill guests of all ages. Highlights from final 12 months’s pageant, a lot of which can return in 2025, embrace the magical Practice of Lights, an illuminated journey aboard Dartmouth Steam Railway’s classic steam practice. This distinctive expertise transports passengers by means of a twinkling tunnel and an enchanted forest earlier than arriving on the glowing riverside city of Kingswear.
One other returning favorite, funded by Torbay Council is the Illumination Path; a charming 1.5-mile mild path by means of Torquay that includes gorgeous shows corresponding to a seven-foot light-up octopus, a large glowing snowflake, and the favored Torre Abbey Gardens mild tunnel. Whereas there, benefit from the festive Christmas Markets set in Torre Abbey’s historic grounds. This charming market is the right place to browse for distinctive presents, bask in scrumptious native meals, and take in the vacation spirit.
Additionally at Torre Abbey, don’t miss the prospect to expertise the spellbinding present, Alive with Gentle. This winter, Torre Abbey is about to come back alive in a wide ranging fusion of sunshine, historical past, and festive magic. Audiences will probably be taken on a mesmerizing visible journey by means of the abbey’s wealthy previous, from its founding by the Premonstratensians within the twelfth century to the current day. The immersive expertise will showcase the evolution of Christmas celebrations throughout the centuries, delivered to life with gorgeous imagery and an evocative soundtrack that includes music from the Medieval, Tudor, Georgian, and Victorian eras.
Guests may also sit up for Santa within the Caves, a one-of-a-kind Christmas journey by means of the prehistoric Kents Cavern, the place households can get pleasure from an interactive pantomime efficiency earlier than assembly Santa in his festively embellished grotto. A Very Miniature Christmas at Babbacombe Mannequin Village will rework the attraction right into a magical miniature Christmas wonderland, stuffed with twinkling lights and vacation scenes.
For these in search of a historic vacation expertise, Christmas at Greenway affords a journey again in time on the Nationwide Belief’s Greenway Home, the place guests can immerse themselves in an Agatha Christie-era Christmas, that includes a festive wreath path and historic vacation traditions.
Carolyn Custerson, CEO of English Riviera BID Firm, stated: “We’re delighted to announce the official dates for Bay of Lights 2025. Final 12 months’s occasion was an outstanding success, with record-breaking customer numbers and unbelievable group engagement.
“Bay of Lights is shortly turning into a nationwide ‘must-see’ occasion, and we’re excited to welcome guests again for what guarantees to be our most spectacular celebration but. Escape your on a regular basis and expertise Christmas like by no means earlier than on the English Riviera.”
Cllr Jacqueline Thomas, Cupboard Member for Tourism, Tradition & Occasions and Company Providers at Torbay Council stated: “We’re thrilled to announce that the Bay of Lights is again for a fourth consecutive 12 months. The suggestions we’ve obtained has proven us that final 12 months’s occasion was the largest and finest but, and we’re desirous to prime that after once more in 2025.
“It was implausible to see Torbay come alive over Christmas with pleasure and illuminations. Bay of Lights showcases every part the English Riviera has to supply and the arduous work we’re placing in to repeatedly improve Torbay.”
The Bay of Lights Illumination path is free to discover, with some Bay of Lights particular points of interest and occasions requiring tickets.