Nature is quite spectacular during the daytime, but what about at night? The Luminaria Nights event at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens allows attendees to see nature in a completely different light. Their excursion is a half-mile long trail illuminated by a thousand candle lit luminarias, which are essentially white paper bags lit with a candle. The excursion stops at the top of the mesa to view performances by traditional Native American artists, like Steve Rushingwood or bigger local groups like the Village Pipers. The event will go on from Dec. 6 through Dec. 21.

The trail’s path lures visitors to see the many natural habitats, and animals that live there. The hand lit luminarias add to the organic vibe given off by the en- tire event. The idea for this event was one of the many things that Director of Visitor Services of Botanical Gardens Eric Garton brought from a previous Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.

Garton is working with a very small budget. At his previous job he executed the identical concept, but with 7,000 luminaria.

“Also the basic idea is that we really don’t get many people to come here on a daily basis, usually about fifty people, but the Luminaria Nights is something that attracts more people,” Garton said. “You know young families, couples on a date night, pretty much just people that wouldn’t come here normally, come because of the event.”

All in all, this event allows the patrons of the Botanical Gardens to partake in an event the exposes them to nature and music in a very interactive manner. Along with that it is introducing citizens of Claremont to a place that they rarely have a chance to see.

“Our goal is to expose people to the Botanical Gardens so that they’ll hopefully come again in the future,” Garton said.