The wonderful world of Brodie illuminated

The nights may be drawing in – but that’s given us the perfect opportunity to showcase Brodie Castle’s fabulous estate in an exciting new light! Brodie Illuminated, the atmospheric autumn light show, will put the spotlight (literally) on the huge range of plants and trees in the shrubbery and around the wider estate. We staged the event for the first time last year, when it really captured people’s imagination and proved a big hit. So now we’re bringing it back by popular demand … and 2021 will be bigger and better!

Brodie Illuminated gets underway on 3 November and runs Wednesdays to Saturdays until 27 November 2021, from 5pm until 9pm. There are half-hour booking slots, with the last booking at 8pm.

This event will take visitors along illuminated pathways, highlighting individual plants that may go unseen during daylight hours, and will show the shrubbery’s stunning plant collection in a whole new light.

The light show will also colour the external walls of the 16th-century castle – a magical experience! And new for this year, the show has been extended to take in the estate’s impressive tree-lined West Avenue.

The shrubbery was originally planted to screen the working areas of the garden from Brodie Castle, like the walled garden and bothy. In the mid-19th century it was quite a formal area, but by the early 20th century it became an informal mix of trees, conifers and shrubs.

The visual experience of a walk around the shrubbery during the daytime is a wealth of beautiful vegetation, but often it can be difficult to appreciate individual plants. The careful application of small amounts of light at night gives us the chance to reveal these plants in a way that is impossible during the day, giving an exciting new perspective.

We hope this year’s Illuminations experience will inspire visitors to look more closely at the fantastic range and diversity of foliage, flowers, colours, shapes and sizes of plants in the shrubbery.