Lightopia Manchester review

Reviewed by Rebecca Wong

In the run-up to Christmas, I’m always looking for things to do with the family that will add a bit of magic and excitement to the Christmas period. It gets more difficult each year not to repeat ourselves and to find something that’s different. So when I got the chance to visit the Lightopia Festival in Manchester I jumped at the chance. I’d never heard of Lightopia before so was open-minded about the experience that lay ahead of us. The festival is an outdoor event so I made sure we all wrapped up warm and we took the 40 minute drive to Heaton Park Manchester. Heaton Park is mammoth park with multiple car parks; so it pays to plan out your journey before arriving if travelling by car. When booking tickets for the event, it is also recommended to pre-book your car parking space as well, which cost £5 per car and there is no time limit on parking. The park is also easily accessible via other modes of transport and the website is incredibly useful and thorough in the information is provides to help plan your trip.

There are also options to pre-book tokens for the fairground rides and to reserve dining space under a heated canopy. The tickets are booked by different entry timeslots that start at 5pm and are every half hour up to 8pm. We arrived for the 5pm slot. The car park was well-manned with lots staff checking tickets, directing people and managing the car park; everyone was very friendly and helpful. The walk up the entrance was lit with white bulbs which added to the anticipation. The children were very excited. We were a little early and so had to wait before entering. From our vantage point, we got a tantalising sneak peek of what we were about to experience, with fairground rides and food huts visible from the entrance.

We first purchased a hot chocolate to keep up warm on our walk. Heaton park is huge and the trail leads you seamlessly through different installations with different themes, it was a real sight and very impressive with lots of photo opportunities along the way. The children loved spotting some of their favourite animals and were wowed by the huge Christmas presents and Christmas tree. Walking under trees with installations above us, the lit-up archway and the rise of the Phoenix were all favourites and don’t miss the interactive tree of light, the kids loved banging on the drums! Throughout, music played to add to the atmosphere. It was a really lovely pleasant experience which caused us all to smile endlessly at what we were seeing.

We stopped about halfway around for food. There were a number of great huts providing food including pizza, pasta, hog roast sandwiches and bratwurst. There was also a bar serving alcoholic drinks. I didn’t see a need to reserve any seating for food, so I wouldn’t bother with the pre-booking. We ate our food comfortably under a heated canopy, it was a lovely atmosphere and queues were short. It didn’t take long to get our food.

As you make your way around the trail, there are plenty of toilets available and is perfectly accessible for all mobilities with lots of benches along the way to stop for a rest if needed. There were also of stalls selling hot chocolate and sweets as well as activities and rides. You can spend as much or as little money as you choose. We chose to get a ride on the big wheel which gave us a great view of the park and the kids were delighted with it. The absolute show-stopper for me was the light show at the end of the trail, a wonderful animated show that was brilliantly projected onto a fountain of water spray, the music and images were wonderful and I would have been happy to watch it over and over again. What a high to finish the trail on!

A family ticket costs £49 and can be purchased at https://www.lightopiafestival.com/. Individual adult tickets can be purchased for £17.50 with discounts available for group bookings. Children’s tickets are £11 and infants (up to the age of 2) are free. I think the cost of tickets is well worth it for the experience you get and the memories made and would also make a great gift for those you love. It took us approximately 2 hours to walk around – with a stop for food along the way. We left feeling happy and in awe of the exhibition of light and I would highly recommend the experience as something very different from the usual Christmas activities. The festival is also on at London, Alton Towers and Brussels; each with an individual layout and features.

Rating: I give it a 5/5 and will definitely be looking out for the return of Lightopia next year to experience it all over again. The festival runs until 2nd January so get your tickets before you miss out!