Idaho Botanical Garden Will WOW Boise with 25th Anniversary of Winter Garden aGlow

One of the Treasure Valley's favorite holiday traditions is celebrating a milestone anniversary this year and they can't wait for you to join the party! 

When we visited the Idaho Botanical Gardens in mid-September, you could see that their team was already hard at work stringing up over 500,000 lights that will transform the garden into the twinkling wonderland known as Winter Garden aGlow. They're putting the final touches on it now and they'll officially flip the switch for the first time on Thanksgiving night at 6 p.m.

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Sure, that's still a few weeks away but you DON'T want to wait to buy your tickets. For the second year in a row, Winter Garden aGlow will be using a timed ticketing system to help control crowds. One-hour timed ticketing blocks will be available every 30 minutes and no tickets will be sold at the gate, so you need to buy them in advance HERE.  Last year, tickets for the season were completely sold out by December 23.

Many guests loved the timed ticketing system and that it helped make for an even better Winter Garden aGlow experience. On the Botanical Garden's Facebook page, guests said they felt it helped alleviate stress about parking, made the walk through the display feel less cramped and improved traffic on Warm Springs Avenue.

In addition to the lights, Winter Garden aGlow is introducing a new Holiday Selfie Station this year and bringing back Illumicone, an area for kids to write letters to Santa, burn barrels, vendors, free cookies and cocoa. They'll also use a one-way path through the garden just like last year.

Once the season begins, Winter Garden aGlow is open Wednesday-Sunday, 6-9:30 p.m. through New Year's Eve. Tickets start at $12 for kids 4-12 and all garden members. Adults are $15. Children three and under are FREE.