ABC-TV’s The Great Christmas Light Fight chose Atlanta Botanical Gardens to compete in its popular holiday competition back in 2022. And last night, Atlanta Botanical Garden's  "Garden Lights, Holiday Nights" took first place, beating competitors to take home a $50,000 prize. The competition was judged by the ABC TV series' co-host Taniya Nayak. 



“We were beyond thrilled when we were asked to audition for this extremely popular holiday show,” said Mary Pat Matheson, the Garden’s president and CEO, in a statement. “The production team spent three days and nights here in the fall 2022 filming our team of seven Garden staffers as told our story of how Garden Lights supports our critical mission work in connecting people with plants through horticulture and collections, community programs, and conservation and research.”

The Garden competed against three other light shows: River of Lights at the ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden in Albuquerque, the Winter Lantern Festival in New York City and Galaxy Lights at Space Center Houston.

While the popular holiday TV series features residential light displays from families across the country, its "heavyweight" category is for public attractions with a mission.

Another reasons the Garden edged out other light displays is its wattage: Garden Lights, Holiday Nights contains more than 1 million light bulbs total, with 265,980 in its Nature’s Wonders synchronized curtain of light. There are 60-plus miles of lights in the Garden's different areas, including 15,000 lights in the Ice Goddess's hair.



The current display is a ticketed attraction that runs through Jan. 14.

Watch the full 'Heavyweights' episode here.

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