Coming back for its 27th year, River of Lights kicks off at the ABQ BioPark

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The switch was flipped to “on” in the opening ceremony to kick off this year’s River of Lights. “I don’t think they have anything like this where we live,” said one man visiting New Mexico with his family from California.

It’s an event well-known during the holiday season where there is something for everyone. The River of Lights draws crowds from all over the world like Rio Kuhl from California. “I think they’re really cool and I’m excited to see all of them,” said Kuhl.

As people walk through the ABQ BioPark, they can see the over 700 uniquely handcrafted structures that illuminate the event. “My favorite part of it, I think, is just the lights and seeing what new displays they have every year. Cause every year they have something new,” said one guest.

And this year, for the first time in River of Lights history, the Sasebo Japanese Garden is illuminated. “We’re really excited to be opening up the Sasebo Japanese Garden this year. We took a different approach to the way we’re doing lights in that area of the garden and so we’re really excited for the public to see what our artists created this year,” said Kent Berry, Events Director, New Mexico BioPark Society.

Along with new sights is a new sound. BK Taiko Japanese Drumming Dojo played drum patterns as guests walked through the new addition. It includes 100 hand crafted bamboo lanterns lighting up treetops and the waterfall reflecting off the garden’s koi pond.

Berry said the team prepares for the big event weeks in advance. “We started putting out our twinkle lights and our sculptures at the beginning of September. It takes 12 full weeks to get hundreds of miles of twinkle lights, 12 full miles of extension cords and almost 800 sculptures up​,” said Berry.

Officials said the first three hours were completely sold out. With each hour selling 1,600 tickets. One visitor said, “Everybody should come see it, it’s beautiful.”

The River of Lights team is asking guests to use their free park and ride service. It will run each day until 10 p.m., picking up guests from the zoo and bringing them over to the botanic gardens. Guests can also ride the ART buses free of charge.