Los Noches de las Luminarias

Photo DBG.org

Photos by Jim Dublinski

One seasonal highlight in the Valley of the Sun is the Luminarias exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Papago Park.  In addition to the 8,000 hand lit luminaries, visitors enjoy sculpture, music, food and beverages as they stroll through the garden's lit pathways.  This year, local artist Carolina Escobar created organic sculptures to mimic the natural garden landscape in addition to Philip Haas's "The Four Seasons" head sculptures of fruit and vegetables inspired by Renaissance artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo portraits out of the same materials.  Musical entertainment includes the music of Traveler World Fusion shown here, but also nine other musical acts fill the garden with song.  Thirty volunteers begin lighting the luminaries each evening, and another crew extinguishes them at the end of the evening. Luminarias are another great Mexican traditions to celebrate the holidays!!!