Creative director of award-winning Lights Up Trail Libby Bataglia, chats about Light Up at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens on display until the 3rd January 2026.
You’ve called this year’s trail your most technically and artistically ambitious yet. What pushed you to raise the bar for 2025?
Every year we aim to raise the bar, and that always starts with listening. We spend the entire run talking to visitors, watching how they move through the trail and reviewing what truly resonates. Their feedback shapes a huge part of our thinking. We look carefully at the installations people fell in love with, and we look just as closely at the moments that could work harder.
That constant day-by-day, night-by-night evaluation becomes the foundation for the
following year’s creative vision. For 2025, it gave us the confidence to push further both
technically and artistically bringing in richer storytelling, more ambitious lighting and new layers of sound and projection. We also collaborate closely with artists who enjoy being challenged by a detailed brief and who understand our audience. That partnership allows us to create work that feels imaginative, emotionally resonant and truly worthy of the trail.
The trail now unfolds in themed zones, each with its own atmosphere and story. How did those narratives take shape, and what guided the creative decisions behind them?
We’ve spent years refining the individual-installation approach, and it felt like time to evolve. By grouping areas together with a loose theme, we could create stronger, more immersive moments and push ourselves in a new creative direction.
The narratives grew from the landscape itself, the character of each part of Hillier Gardens, the emotions we wanted to evoke and the memories we wanted to sty with our audience.. That guided how each zone took shape, giving every area its own atmosphere and story within the wider trail.
You’ve collaborated with an impressive roster of artists again this year. What do you look for in a creative partner, and how do those collaborations influence the final experience?
We’ve worked really closely with each artist this year from the first brief through to the final piece. We look for creatives who are open, collaborative and excited to respond to the landscape and our audience.
The process is detailed. We start with moodboards, move into early animatics, review every stage as the work develops and make final tweaks once everything is tested on site. Those collaborations shape the experience in a big way. They allow each installation to grow naturally, with the artist’s vision and our understanding of our audience guiding every decision, right up to the moment the trail opens.
The finale, Seasons of Light, has been created with the female-led Brightside Studios. What makes this closing moment special compared to previous years?
Brightside Studios bring an extraordinary sense of colour, imagination and audience
awareness to everything they create. I first discovered their work on a water-screen
installation last year and it completely stopped me in my tracks, it had this vibrancy that
cut through all the noise on social media. I knew immediately we had to work together.
For Seasons of Light, their projection artistry combines beautifully with James’s ambition to layer in lighting and special effects something we haven’t attempted before. It gives the finale a more immersive, almost 4-D quality. It’s also deeply emotional. The piece follows how light moves through each of the seasons in the gardens, bringing the whole trail to a close in a way that feels uplifting and full of wonder.
Winning Gold at the Beautiful South Tourism Awards is a huge achievement. Does that recognition change the way you approach each new season?
Winning Gold meant a great deal to us. The South is full of incredible events, so to be
recognised at that level felt genuinely special. We have a brilliant team of experts behind
the trail, and being able to say we’re multi-award-winning is a reflection of their craft as
much as anything else.
It doesn’t change our approach, but it does motivate us. It’s a reminder to keep striving,
keep refining and keep creating something that feels worthy of the people who return year after year. That recognition gives us the confidence to push ourselves even further each season.
You’ve kept Off-Peak ticket prices frozen at 2022 levels and expanded the number of Off- Peak slots. Why is affordability such a priority for you?
Affordability is incredibly important to us. We want as many people as possible to share the magic of the trail, because we see just how many wonderful memories are made here for families and friends. For so many visitors it’s become a tradition, we have guests who’ve returned every year since 2022 and we never want cost to be the barrier that stops that.
Keeping Off-Peak prices frozen at 2022 levels, and expanding the number of Off-Peak slots, is our way of protecting that sense of togetherness. It means more people can feel the festive spirit, walk the trail with the people they love and carry those moments with them long after they leave.
This year’s Super Peak Nights introduce theatrical performances from Steamship Circus. What made you want to bring live performers into the trail, and how do they change the atmosphere?
We wanted to add a deeper layer of immersion to our Super Peak Nights. These are our
most in-demand dates, and bringing in live performers felt like the perfect way to heighten the atmosphere. Steamship Circus have created characters and costumes especially for this year’s zones, and they bring an energy that transforms the experience from the fire jugglers that stop you in your tracks to the roaming performers who make the trail feel alive.
It’s the same trail on Super Peak Nights, but the performers take everything to another
level. Double the number of entertainers means double the excitement, and it gives those evenings a sense of celebration that people can feel the moment they arrive.
Light Up Trails has grown incredibly quickly since 2020. Looking back, what’s been the biggest turning point in your journey?
I think the real turning point for us was realising just how deeply the trail resonates with
people. When families tell us it’s magical, or that it’s one of the best experiences they’ve
been to, it pushes us to keep raising the standard every single year. Knowing that what
we create becomes part of people’s traditions is incredibly motivating.
Another big part of our growth has been keeping the same core team. We’ve built this
together, learning from each season and bringing that knowledge straight into the next.
That sense of continuity and collaboration has helped us evolve quickly while staying true to what people love about Light Up Trails.
Many families see the trail as the unofficial start of Christmas. What does it mean to youto have created something that’s become part of people’s seasonal traditions?
It genuinely feels like a privilege. To know the trail has become the moment that starts Christmas forso many families is incredibly special for us. It also carries a real sense of responsibility, we never want to disappoint. That feeling is what drives us to keep evolving, keep listening and keep creating something that feels worthy of the traditions people have built around Light Up Trails.
As women leading large-scale, technically complex events, how have you navigated this space, and what would you say to other women hoping to break into the world of immersive experiences?
We’ve never really thought about it in those terms. For us, it began with an idea we believed in and the determination to find a way to make it happen. Large-scale, technically complex events can feel intimidating from the outside, but once you’re in the thick of it you realise it’s all about problem-solving, collaboration and trusting your instincts.
To other women who want to step into immersive experiences, we’d say this: don’t wait for the perfect moment or the perfect plan. Start where you are, keep learning and surround yourself with people who lift the work and you higher. If you stay committed to your vision and keep moving forward, you can build something extraordinary.
To book tickets visit: https://www.hants.gov.uk/thingstodo/hilliergardens/whatson/LightUp25