Lantern Hours
Lantern Hours
The glasshouse after dark under amber light, lit backwards from what the roost needs rather than from what looks best.
2 hours 30 minutes120 places$38.00May 1 to September 30
Everything is lit at under 2200 kelvin, low, shielded, and pointed down. Whiter or brighter light suppresses melatonin in roosting birds and pushes their waking time earlier, so the lighting here is designed backwards from what the roost needs and the visitor experience is what is left over.
What is left over turns out to be remarkable. The canopy reads as silhouette, the flowers that open at night are the only things with colour, and the birds that are awake are the ones you never see in daylight.
Practical
Friday and Saturday evenings, May to September. The building holds its heat well after dark, so it is no cooler than a daytime visit and often feels warmer because you have come in from outside.
Bring nothing that makes its own light. Phone screens on full brightness are the main problem, and staff will ask. There is enough light to walk by once your eyes adjust, which takes about four minutes.
Roost timing, waking time and body mass are recorded across lit and unlit evenings throughout the season. The results are published every October, including the year the numbers went the wrong way and the event was suspended.