Weather Update

Friday 20th and Saturday 21st December

Gardens, Father Christmas, Heligan Shop, Heligan Kitchen and Night Garden open as planned.

Sunday 22nd December

The Gardens and Estate will be closed during the day however elves will be on hand to safely escort guests to meet Father Christmas.

The Heligan Kitchen, Heligan Shop and Heligan Night Garden will be open as planned.

Are there any Health and Safety rules I should know about?

We advise all visitors remain on the clearly always marked route and that to ensure the smooth running of the event visitors turn up on time for their entrance. Children and vulnerable adults must be closely supervised.

Heligan Night Garden takes place in Winter after dark in a country estate setting. Areas which are not part of the experience and clearly defined route will have potential trip hazards and risks to health and safety, which may be difficult to see during the times of the event and must not be explored.

There are elements of fire within the route and although stewarded, please ensure you and any children keep at a safe distance.

Some low rhododendron branches will be lit but do mind your heads in these areas.

There are 4 ponds on the route. These will be stewarded but please refrain from stepping into these ponds and adults must always supervise children in these areas.

Conditions on the route will be continually monitored by staff, but we remind visitors that the event takes place after daylight hours in an outside, country setting during winter, so please exercise caution when attending.

All stewards are visible with high vis jackets, radios and torches and will be happy to assist you with any concerns. Full first aid provision is on site.

Related FAQs

The experience starts at the ticket Office at your pre-booked entry time. Please have your tickets and reference number ready to present to our team.

The trail will lead you on a one-way route around The Gardens. Visitor groups will enter the gardens at 15-minute intervals to enable safe and spacious exploration. Please arrive on time for the event.

To allow all visitors the time and space to enjoy the experience, the Night Garden event will run with fixed-time entry slots, starting from 4:30pm onwards. We ask that all visitors arrive on time for their allocated booking, but not in advance.

Where last entry ticket is at 7.30pm the gardens will close at 9pm. Where last entry ticket is at 8.30pm the gardens will close at 10pm.

All visitors with Heligan Gardens Day entry tickets will need to buy separate tickets to enjoy the Heligan Night Garden experience.

All visitors with a valid daytime entry ticket will be asked to leave the gardens when they close (the gardens will close at 2pm on the dates of a Heligan Night Garden evet), even if you hold a valid evening ticket. The Heligan kitchen remains open daily until 4.30pm where visitors are welcome to reside when you leave the gardens, awaiting the Heligan Night Garden to begin.

All Heligan Night Garden tickets can be booked online.

Please arrive no more that 10-15 minutes before your start time. You will need no more than 15 minutes prior to your booking time. Free car parking is provided along with accessible parking. We ask that you do not arrive before this due to limited space at our ticketing office which will prevent effective social distancing. We will not be able to admit you prior to your allocated time slot.

All ticket prices are listed at Heligan.com

Various discounts are available for Heligan Members, Local pass holders and Blue Light card holders. More information is available online.

We strongly recommend that you do not bring dogs to this event.

The exception is guidance or assistance dogs on short leads only.

If you do bring your dog, and we feel that the experience or safety of our visitors is compromised, we will ask you to remove your dog from the site.

The experience includes flashing lights and sudden noises which some animals may find distressing.

Enjoy seasonal food and drink favourites from our Heligan arrival Takeaway, Stewards House and Estate BBQ outlets. There will also be complimentary marshmallows to toast on the fire (vegan options available).

Of course! Our main toilets, including baby changing, family room, accessible toilets and changing places are situated at the main entrance. Further toilets are sign posted at the BBQ area, approximately halfway around the route.

As part of the experience, many areas will be dark as the event takes place outside, after daylight hours. We strongly advise you bring torches, and dress appropriately for the ever-changing Cornish weather to include sturdy footwear for the garden paths. The route is outside and not under cover. However, there are covered areas to sit and enjoy festive refreshments, including within the Stewards House and the BBQ area. Numerous fire pits along the route will provide welcome warmth should you wish to stop a while and enjoy.

Accessible parking, accessible toilets and changing places are available on site, and all food and drink outlets are accessible.
Wheelchairs are available for use on your visit, please request these on the night via a Heligan Welcome Steward or at the Ticketing Office.
Heligan Night Garden is an outdoor event which takes place after dark on a working productive gardens and estate.
We appreciate our visitors are best placed to assess their own abilities and would suggest you visit our Garden Access Guide at Heligan.com or contact Heligan reception on 01726 845100 if you have any specific questions.
Visitors are welcome to bring their own mobility scooters but we are unable to loan our own for this event.

The route will be architecturally lit by experienced lighting designers who have developed sensitive ways of working in heritage and landscape settings. Responding to the natural darkness of the site is a key element of the event. We try and avoid continuous lighting of the route and make use of low-level lighting in order to make it a safe experience.

Heligan is a working garden and farm park. We strongly consider our own resident animals as well as our abundant natural wildlife when designing the event. The event will finish at 9pm to prevent disturbance to any daytime nesting or nocturnal creatures. There is no noise pollution over and above the natural sound level created by the presence of visitors on the route.

We regularly observe the weather forecast to ensure the event can safely be experienced. If the weather should reach extreme levels, we will cancel the event and this would be advertised on our website. On this occasion all tickets would be refunded by our Team.

Refunds will only be offered where the event has been cancelled and not under any other circumstances.

In the instance of a ‘force majeure’, there will be no refunds issued.

In order to assess the impact of this event both a desk study and field studies are undertaken. The route is walked and checked on a regular basis by Heligan staff throughout the event. Visitors will stick to paths and not venture into lawned, or wild areas.

The duration of the event spans late November to early January, the time of year where there is least wildlife activity. Many protected species such as bats are hibernating, and we do not impact on known nesting areas.

We dearly hope that Heligan Night Garden is a satisfying experience for all our visitors, and we strongly recommend you thoroughly read all our Terms and Conditions and FAQ’s prior to booking tickets. However, if we have failed to meet your expectations, please contact Heligan Reception via email at [email protected] where we will do our best to resolve your issue.

If this information has not given you the answer to your specific question, please contact Heligan Reception at [email protected].

In a word, no. We will not issue refunds or transfers for visitors who make the decision not to attend due to unfavourable weather conditions. We would ask that all visitors instead dress appropriately for the forecast weather conditions on the day. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferrable, and this is clearly stated on our bookings page and terms and conditions. Should the decision be made to cancel the event on any given day due to severe, inclement weather conditions, a full refund will be provided.

If you have purchased Heligan Night Garden Ticket Protection you may transfer the date of your Night Garden Tickets once. To do this you will need to call the reception team on 01726 845 100 up to 24hrs before the original start date of your booking.

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