For two nights in October, Lake Merritt, including the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt (BGLM), will be filled with lanterns, carved and lit gourds, glass bubbles below the surface of the ponds, and electric fireflies in the trees all created by local artists plus a cast of entertainers. The Friends of the Gardens at Lake Merritt (FGLM) will be mounting their annual Autumn Lights Festival on Friday October 17th and Saturday, October 18th from 6pm to 10pm.
As the crown jewel of Lake Merritt, the BGLM would like to light the Bonsai Garden in an even more spectacular fashion than last year when we had up-lights on bonsai and path lights. Since the BGLM is an extensive area to light, we have set a budget of $1,500 to upgrade our lighting in order to impress the City of Oakland officials and possible corporate donors.
Donations:
We are asking for donations to defray the cost of new lighting equipment. Details on the lighting design are included at the end of this message. All donations large or small are welcome! If you would like to sponsor a portion of the design, or if you have connections with lighting contractors, or if you have solar landscape lights you wouldn’t mind loaning to us for the weekend, please contact Randi Keppeler ([email protected]).
Please send donations “GSBF Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt”and specify “Autumn Lights Festival” in the note at the bottom of the check. Please mail your donations to Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt, P.O. Box 16176, Oakland, CA 94610 or drop them off at the Garden.
The Autumn Lights Festival is a fundraiser for the Friends of the Gardens at Lake Merritt, a 501-C-3 nonprofit, that uses the funds to make improvements to the Gardens and to extend their appeal to our neighbors throughout the Bay Area. A donation from the Friends of the Gardens at Lake Merritt paid for our new bonsai shade structures.
Bay Area artists create lighting specifically for each section of the Gardens including the Palm Garden, the circular paths of the Sensory Garden, the Mediterranean Garden, the Japanese Garden, and the Edible Garden. In years past, artist creativity has included cars spewing fire, glowing waterfalls, a flock of interactive books, a Polynesian Paradise with hand-crafted tiki lanterns, and live fire art performers.
Attendees are also encouraged to participate in the event by creating their own luminarias and neon bubbles. Many of the attendees don’t just donate to the cause by purchasing an admission ticket. They add to the extravaganza by coming dressed in their most interesting illuminated garden attire. Music and sound installations fill the night air while a silent auction, Garden merchandise available for purchase, and food trucks add to the festivities.
Our Lighting Plan:
The large bonsai tree at the outside corner of the BGLM along with its companion suiseki will be lit with three cylindrical paper lights and a pair of landscape spotlights. Along the outer fence as you walk towards the front gate, we will place feather banners borrowed from Sei Boku Bonsai Kai. Each feather banner will be lit by a solar spotlight. The banners will lead the attendees toward the front Gate at the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt.
The Japanese maple tree just to the side of the front gate will be hung with Japanese paper lanterns. Inside the Bonsai Garden, folks will see each tree in our collection lit from below by soft LED lights. Clusters of paper lanterns will be hung from the shade structures. More Japanese lanterns will be hung from the trees along the perimeter fence and some of the taller trees will have their trunks and lower branches illuminated by solar spotlights.
The pathways will be lit by our own special luminaries (tea lights in brightly colored plastic cups – a cost effective alternative to paper bags). The tokonoma alcoves are lit from above and will display three bonsai at their finest. The crab apple tree that sits across the path from the tokonoma will have fairy lights dripping from its branches and the dry streambed will glitter with blue lights as well. The following diagram summarizes what we would like to achieve.Please donate soon, so we will have time to acquire the lights and implement our plans. Thanks for your generosity.