Northern Lights returns to Leazes Park

Leazes Park is about to spend a good chunk of the end of the year lit up from the inside out. Northern Lights returns to the park from Friday 20 November, when the gates open at 4.30pm, and runs right through to Thursday 31 December, with a closing time of 8.30pm. It is a one-kilometre Christmas light trail that takes over the whole place, and this year it comes with a theme: 'A Christmas Time Machine', pitched as a nostalgic trip through Christmas past and present.

The trail itself is the main draw, and it is built around a series of immersive light installations, interactive areas, selfie spots and a marshmallow zone. A few of the more recognisable stops are Lava Lamps, Nutcrackers and Kaleidoscopes, alongside the Gobo Walk, which was created by children with extended stays at the Great North Children's Hospital. Beyond the lights, there is a Christmas Village with mulled wine, hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows, vintage fairground rides and an expanded village showcasing artisan food and drink producers from across the region, plus music to carry you around.

It is worth knowing that the trail is not open every single night. It closes on 23, 24, 25 and 30 November, and again on 1, 7, 8 and 25 December, so it is worth picking your date before you commit. Entry is from 4.15pm, though closing times can shift, so it is worth double-checking the day you plan to go.

On price, there are Peak and Off-Peak tiers, and two neuro-inclusive evenings. A Peak Adult ticket is £25.75, a Peak Child £17.75 and a Peak Family £74.75. Off-Peak drops those to £21.25 for an adult, £15.25 for a child and £61.75 for a family, and all prices include a £1.75 transaction fee. There is a 'Kids Go Free' offer on Off-Peak slots, where up to two children aged 3 to 16 go free when you buy at least one Early Bird Adult Off-Peak ticket, and Early Bird prices cover all ticket types until 31 August.

The setting is a big part of the appeal. Leazes Park is a traditional Victorian public park right in the centre of Newcastle, opened in 1873 as the city's first purpose-built park, and it sits in the shadow of St James' Park and opposite the Royal Victoria Infirmary, near Newcastle University. Entrance is via Barrack Road, and the park itself keeps its lake, meandering tree-lined paths, benches, a large woodland play area to the north, six tennis courts, two full basketball courts, table tennis, a bowling green, picnic and BBQ areas and a memorial garden when the lights are not on.

Behind the scenes, the event is put on by the team behind Kendal Calling and Bluedot festivals. Since it first launched in 2021, Northern Lights has taken in more than 1.2 million visitors across the UK, and more than 300,000 of those have come through the Newcastle site since it opened here in 2023. It has picked up a fair bit of praise along the way, voted one of the best Christmas light trails in the UK by Radio Times, The Guardian and The Times, and featured in BuzzFeed, Closer, The Telegraph, ITV, Metro and Cosmopolitan.