Phoenix’s newest walk-through nighttime light festival celebrates nature, art, Chinese culture

PHOENIX — The Valley is no stranger to light-up Christmas shows with brightly colored Santas, elves and candy canes, but until this year, none have featured pandas, dragons and other fantastical creatures.

That’s where the inaugural Tianyu Lights Festival on Camelback Ranch in Phoenix comes in. Rather than celebrate festive characters, its vibrant displays highlight mystical unicorns, talkative parrots, animated owls in giant saguaros and more.

Event manager Huiyuan Liu said designers wanted to offer a fresh alternative to the Valley’s lineup of holiday shows.

“We are choosing not to do a holiday theme like Christmas to provide people with something different,” Liu told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Friday. “We bring a show with different themes.”

The event comes from Tianyu Arts and Culture Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of a Chinese company that has hosted similar light festivals in over 39 cities across Europe and the U.S. over the past decade.

“We always wanted to do one in Phoenix,” Liu said. “We do it as a cultural communication with people from different parts of the world.”

How does the Tianyu Lights Festival work?

Unlike the Valley’s beloved World of Illumination shows, which require visitors to drive through its dazzling light displays, the Tianyu Lights Festival functions similarly to Phoenix ZooLights in that guests can walk through and interact with exhibits.

There are tons of photo opportunities at the four different sections, the first of which takes guests through an illuminated forests with plants and animals from desert, wetlands and rainforests. This section is notable for its three-story tree of color-changing butterflies.

After leaving the forest, guests are directed through a fantastical wonderland with unicorns, fairies and dragons.

Next is Liu’s favorite section: Panda Land. This kid-friendly section features animated panda lanterns that connect the event to its Chinese roots.

“Then, the last section will be the ocean world,” Liu said.

Colorful fish light up this section, which also boasts a 100-foot shark tunnel with a mouth full of LED lights that change color.

Interactive exhibits are a highlight of the Tianyu Lights Festival

One factor that makes this show unique from other light shows is the interactivity, Liu said.

“We invest a lot in this interactive element in the show, so they are buried in different displays,” she said. “There may be more than 20 sets of displays that are interactive and they’re not necessarily obvious.”

There’s also an element of mystery, as many displays offer hidden interactions that guests will have to discover on their own.

“We have heard a lot of comments and feedback that people have to work through two or three times to find out all the active elements,” Liu said. “They find it really fun and really worth the price of the ticket.”

It’s a step forward from the festival’s beginnings. Originally this festival started as an art form where visitors could take photos. However, the desire to make the event more memorable drove innovation.

“For example, we have a set in this display … there’s a microphone buried inside of this parrot, so if you talk to the parrot, it will talk back to you,” Liu said. “There’s one, which is my favorite, that’s an owl coming out from the cactus … there’s a way to activate it, but you really have to be there to find out how you can interact with the display.”

Food and retail also offered at the light show

It will take anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half to explore the whole display. However, there’s also a section where guests can buy food from local and traveling vendors.

Lastly, visitors can also buy souvenirs and hand-crafted art from Chinese artisans.

Visitors will have to pay for parking, but college students and seniors aged 65 and older can park for free with a valid student ID or license.

The event was initially open from Wednesdays to Sundays, but Liu said the hours have been extended due to popular demand. From Dec. 18 to Jan. 5, 2025, it will be open seven days a week from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Ticket information can be found online.