Is it worth it? I always get asked when I go to experiences in Seattle. Seattlelites are very wary about how they use their money and time. And I was a little curious too when I got the invite to Astra Lumina. It’s an immersive outdoor experience in Seattle’s Chinese Garden, a place I had no idea existed in our city until this year. Before I visited, I heard it was fantastic but spendy and I really wanted to see for myself. (And I think it’s popped up in other cities: someone told me they had gone to Astra Lumina in Vancouver so if you’re not in Seattle maybe it will pop up one day near you too.)
Astra Lumina is photogenic and fun on a clear night
It turns out Astra Lumina might very well be worth it if you want to go for a stroll through a garden at night lit up with out-of-the-worldish-lights. My husband and I even did the speedy version of this experience- a quick date in between work and picking up kids from school and getting them to other places so we popped in for maybe just under an hour. The weather was perfect-it had rained all morning so everything had a sparkly dampness that looks brilliant in photos but we were still spectacularly dry on a December night in Seattle. Anytime we have things like this that get people out and about in the fresh air in our city, I’m totally game-if it was rainy I’d wear a raincoat.
Where to park for Astra Lumina in Seattle
The experience starts with parking. I’m not sure how else you could get into Astra Lumina- we saw cars parked on the street before entry but they were lined up pretty far away- it might not be the worst walk in world for grownups but with little kids I’d just spend the $12 and park (this is the price I saw on the website when I looked but I’m not sure if this price is always the same or if it changes-make sure you check before you go). And like everything post 2020 make sure you get tickets online before you arrive or you might be very disappointed if you just show up. I noticed there are a few days that are completely sold out. And I also don’t remember seeing anywhere that you could walk up and buy tickets, I think it might be completely online. I also noticed that if you have a group of 8 or more or a family you might also find discounts online for tickets.
Once you park, you get to the lineup for entry where you need to scan a QR code for a waiver. This is where the line kind of bottlenecks as people figure out their phones. We were lucky that an attendant saw that we had finished our waivers and ushered us ahead to the front of the line. It always feels like we wait more than we do-we were inside the experience less than 10 minutes after we went through security, the lineup, the waiver and the check-in. I was also told the best bathrooms are at the entry to the experience because there are only outhouses once you enter the gardens. There were quite a few people waiting for the bathrooms and we were only here for a short time so I didn’t stop to check them out.
How long does the whole experience take?
Once inside, the experience begins and it is quite dark as you walk down paths that lead to different light shows that take 3-5 minutes and can be as long or as short as you might like. Nothing we saw seemed to have a clear beginning, middle or end so it didn’t seem to matter how long we stood to take it all in. I just got a new iPhone recently so I really enjoyed playing around with the camera using the night mode. I think this would be a great place to use a new camera if you were wanting to test out this kind of photography too. If it is rainy or if it’s just rained, the paths can get quite muddy. Because it had rained early in the day we did find some squishy spots and some spots that were not super clearly marked in the dark (because the experience needs the dark) so I’d probably hold on to young kids a bit in some of the places too. There are nine different spots to stop during the Astra Lumina experience in Seattle. We zoomed through in a very short time but you could take an hour or more if you linger and walk slowly.
My favorite stop was a part full of strobe lights, lasers and smoke machines and the shadows of people in front of us and behind us just added to the fun of it all-I think this was really creatively done. Another part with lights on a hill reminded me of Bruce Munro’s light fields (we went ages ago in Australia and they are in Paso Robles now.)
I don’t think I would do the Celestial package add on with the cup keepsake unless you collect these types of things, but it was nice that there was the option to buy drinks and snacks at the end of our walk (this used to be so important when my kids were small) and the hot chocolate and non-alchoholic punches were thoughtfully presented (our hot chocolate had chocolate sprinkles and whip cream and the love punch we tried had cranberries and a cinnamon stick).
I think our whole walk was about 3000 steps on my watch if that helps and the path was gravely with some up and down hills. I definitely enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. The light shows were creatively done, the music was not overpowering and added to the celestial effect and it was really cool to walk through a garden we didn’t know existed in Seattle at night. And even though this light show is happening during the holidays, it’s not traditionally festive and it’s sticking around until February so it’s a great way to combat the darkness that usually envelopes our hearts this time of year too while getting some fresh air. (And I know I’ll be checking out the Seattle Chinese Garden in the springtime now too.)
(PS this might also make a great experience gift)
(PPS I was given tickets to Astra Lumina for review and as always the opinions/ideas in this post and on my blog are my own)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
Thanks for the helpful review. I think I will gift the experience.