June 04, 2015
Longwood Gardens/for PhillyVoice
The Palm House at Longwood Gardens during "Nightscape."
Adding colorful lights to landscaped public spaces seems to be this summer's biggest trend, helping places like The Oval and Spruce Street Harbor Park become social media sensations. Longwood Gardens, being an observant organization, is getting in on the action with "Nightscape," a new light and sound show opening July 1.
It has teamed up with visual art shop Klip Collective to create nine site-specific installations throughout the gardens. Giving guests a whole different view on Longwood, each site will be reimagined and reconfigured using lights and music.
The bismarckia palms in Rose Arbor will turn into kaleidoscopes, Flower Garden Drive will become an underwater experience, the Silver Garden's still landscape will be full of movement, and Flower Garden Walk will play home to thousands of points of light. The Large Lake will even evoke the sounds of the forest at night with its own display.
As if the light and color spectacles of "Nightscape" weren't enough, Longwood will also open its first Beer Garden Wednesday, July 1. Victory Brewing Company is behind the space where guests can dine under the stars. They'll also be serving a Victory collaboration beer, "Longwood Seasons: Summer Zest," made using lemons grown at Longwood.
The Beer Garden will be open Wednesdays through Saturdays 6-11 p.m. through Saturday, October 31. Thursdays from 7-10 p.m. it will host regional artists for live performances, including bluegrass artist Marc Silver, Gypsy jazz performer Jon Dichter, soulful music innovator Angela Sheik and acoustic pop performer Dani Mari.
Additional programming includes "Artist & Friends," a monthly speaker series featuring Ricardo Rivera of Klip Collective chatting with technologists and artists.
