Durban's popular Trail of Lights spectacular will go ahead to create some festive cheer during the pandemic. The event will take place from December 11 and run until December 30, 2020.
To meet protocol requirements and ensure the safety of visitors, key operational changes have been made to this year’s event. There will be three entry times at 6pm, 7pm and 8pm. This will allow for social distancing as families can navigate their way around the trail before the next group arrives.
“We have never been so excited to start work on any event,” enthuses Martin Clement, curator of Durban’s 171-year-old Botanic Gardens. “It was touch and go as to whether the
event would be able to take place, but we are thrilled to have received the go-ahead, clearing the 2020 Durban Botanic Gardens Trail of Lights for take-off. This has been a challenging year in every way and this year’s event offers a celebratory moment for us all.”
Event organiser Alene Naidoo said The Trail of Lights is arguably Durban’s most popular festive season event.
"The event, in its fourth year, is firmly entrenched on the city’s festive season calendar. With the Gardens festooned with millions of lights, 2020 will see the return of some fan favourites, along with new lighting displays and activations, Live@theTrail pop-up entertainment, a bigger festive market, two food gardens, Santa’s Grotto and the opportunity to give back to a host of worthwhile charities in the charity-driven Santa’s Workshop.
“This year’s Trail of Lights couldn’t be more anticipated after a year fraught with the stresses of coping with the Covid-19 pandemic," said Naidoo.
Koren Gnirck, Durban Botanic Gardens Trust’s Operations Manager said the theme for this year is ‘Add A Little Light’.
"We figured that we all needed a little light, at the end of what has been a strange and difficult year! This event is the Gardens’ biggest fundraiser, and we have worked hard over the years, in collaboration with Alene, to establish a brand and reputation that showcases Africa’s oldest surviving botanic garden, brings festive season cheer to those that attend and at which family traditions are formed and memories made. We need this light to look forward to at the end of 2020," she said.
The community-directed ethos of the Trail of Lights is a vital part of what makes it so special, with the strong charity element, a hallmark of the event’s community focus.
After a year that has seen SA’s economy take a severe knock, the funds made from the Santa’s Workshop and other charity-driven activations this year will be most welcome for the benefitting charities, including TAFTA, Feeding the Furballs, KZN Cerebral Palsy Association and SAAMBR, amongst others. Some charities will engage directly with the public through
Onsite activations while others will benefit from funds raised through vendors. This year Reach for a Dream has partnered with the Trail of Lights to host “a dream a week.”