Dragon to breathe fire at landmark Welsh visitor attraction

A flagship after-dark event is set to be staged at the National Botanic Garden of Wales this month.

The ‘Dragon’s Breath’ immersive night-time experience will combine fire, music, poetry and performance for four nights at the end of October, ahead of the Botanic Garden’s 25th anniversary next year

From Thursday 24th – Sunday 27th October 2024 the National Botanic Garden of Wales will play host to an immersive after dark event experience that combines fire, music, poetry and performance, all set against the backdrop of one of Wales’ most iconic landmarks.

The Dragon’s Breath event will be a festival of fire, folklore, fantasy and Welsh culture that will illuminate the National Botanic Garden of Wales for four nights this autumn, ahead of its 25th Anniversary next year.

The event, which is a collaboration between the team at the Botanic Garden and the UK’s leading outdoor events specialists, Walk the Plank, will deliver an experiential nightime fire-trail that showcases the magic of the garden after dark. It will feature intricate hand-crafted fire sculptures, harmonised with performances from artists, poets and musicians who will impart to visitors the spectacular story of the Dragon’s Breath as they make their way along the fire-lit pathways of the Botanic Garden.

Designed for visitors both young and old, the Dragon’s Breath event is an environmental allegory centred around a dying dragon who has abandoned its home on the coast of Rhossili on the nearby Gower Peninsula to find sanctuary in the lake behind the Garden’s iconic Great Glasshouse. Through poetry and song that is rich with Celtic resonance, visitors will see that while the earth might be burning, there is hope, and that this hope lies with young people and their ability to heal the world.

Indeed, hope is the central tenet of the event’s message, with a connecting aim to shine a spotlight on the National Botanic Garden of Wales’ reputation as an internationally renowned centre for biodiversity, conservation and research.

Featuring the poetry of Dylan Thomas and new work from Children Poet’s Laureate 2021 – 2023, Connor Allen, the bold event will offer visitors an enchanting and thought provoking evening, that has been exclusively curated for the National Botanic Garden of Wales by the creative team at Walk the Plank.

Known as ‘spectacle specialists’, Walk the Plank have developed outdoor events, installations and landmark moments for the likes of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Commonwealth Games and European Capitals of Culture

“Our maxim is ‘anything is possible’ and we always aim to awe and inspire”, says Bev Ayre, Senior Producer at Walk the Plank. “With this in mind we have dived deeply into Welsh folklore, myth and legend as inspiration for the narrative for this event. We have a long history of working in Wales and the rich culture and the depth and range of talent we have been able to draw on from local arts communities is a gift when putting events together on this scale.

“Being able to utilise the magnificent, moody and moving prose of Dylan Thomas, right in the heart of his homeland, as well as working with new literary stars of the future like Connor, who was Children’s Poet Laureate for the past two years, has been wonderful. We’ve also been working with production students from the nearby University of Wales Trinity St Davids who have been helping us to create our set designs.”

“The Dragon’s Breath event is the largest event the Botanic Garden has ever hosted, and it’s a purposefully ambitious spectacle, with a vital environmental message at its heart, that will lead us into our 25th anniversary year in 2025”, says Dr Lucy Sutherland, Director for the National Botanic Garden of Wales.

“We are a national botanic garden focused on advancing knowledge about the science of plants and lifelong learning, and we’re also a champion of the arts and believe that the arts can support us in developing further understanding of the natural world around us, and the vital need for its ongoing care and conservation.

“The Dragon’s Breath event, starts us on a new journey of delivering high calibre arts experiences, and the vision behind the event and the sheer levels of creativity and talent involved has been something really special to witness. We’re so excited to welcome visitors on the evening of October 24th to usher in four nights of fire, fairytale and Welsh wonder.”

The Dragon’s Breath event will take place at the National Botanic Garden of Wales from Thursday 24th – Sunday 27th October 2024 (autumn half term), 6pm – 10pm.

For more information and to book tickets visit: botanicgarden.wales/visit/whats-on/event/dragons-breath/