Light show's new iteration on its way

Otago Daily Times

29-05-2025

Queenstown's Kiwi Park is hosting ''Luma Enchanted'' from tonight until the end of winter. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
A nature park by day, a light show by night. Queenstown's Kiwi Park is hosting a "whimsical" iteration of the popular Luma light show which ran in the gardens for the past 10 years.
Formerly staged over King's Birthday Weekend, it returns again this same holiday weekend as "Luma Enchanted" — but this time runs nightly until the end of winter.
Screentime New Zealand chief executive Philly de Lacey, of Queenstown, who filmed the penultimate murder in her first A Remarkable Place to Die TV murder mystery series during last year's Luma, initiated the change with some ideas to refresh it.
"I approached them and said, 'Look, I would love to get my hands on Luma because I would love to see if we can do something different with it'."
As it happens, Luma's organisers soon after decided to pull the pin due to funding constraints.
Ms de Lacey did a deal with the organisers to give herself six months to find a property where it could be hosted, but obviously to run it for a whole winter it could not remain in the Gardens.
A Luma organiser, Luke Baldock, put her in touch with new Kiwi Park boss Richard Wilson, "and he was like, 'I really want to do something with the park, and this is exactly the sort of thing I've been thinking about".
She said the group had lent into the theme of New Zealand native animals, both extinct and living, "and then we've gone completely off-piste, but generally it sits within that natural world".
For this, her first off-screen production, Ms de Lacey has tapped about 40 creative brains from both her film world and Luma's, bringing a diverse range of artistic expressions.
To differentiate it from the former light show, it focuses more on storytelling, integrating light, nature, and narrative elements to create a more engaging and interactive experience.
Her guiding light was "people feeling like the minute they walk into Kiwi Park they've entered a wonderland and until they leave they're in this wonderland".
Ms de Lacey also thought it provided locals and visitors with a family-friendly nighttime attraction.
The voice-overs from Queenstown's Alpine Ski Team youngsters and two Arrowtown School children "sound absolutely incredible".