WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — In just a few days, one of the East Bay’s most beloved gardens will flip the switch and turn into a glowing, desert-themed holiday wonderland.
Ruth Bancroft Garden’s annual Garden of D’Lights is back, and the normally tranquil dry garden on Bancroft Road is about to be washed in lasers, color washes, and thousands of twinkling LEDs.
Just want tickets? We have a link down below.
A Succulent Garden Turned Technicolor
By day, Ruth Bancroft Garden is a 3.5–acre showcase of waterwise plants — agaves, aloes, yuccas, towering palms, and rare succulents collected over more than 60 years.
At night during Garden of D’Lights, those same sculptural plants become the backdrop for a full-on light show.
Colored spotlights and laser effects turn familiar agaves electric blue, outline tree branches in neon pink, and cast reflections across the garden’s ponds.
Meandering gravel paths are edged with strands of lights and glowing art pieces, so visitors feel like they are walking through a fantasy landscape instead of a waterwise demonstration garden in suburban Walnut Creek.
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When Garden of D’Lights Runs
This year’s Garden of D’Lights runs on select evenings from Friday, November 21, 2025, through Sunday, January 11, 2026.
Instead of one big crowd all at once, the garden sells timed tickets for three nightly entry windows:
- 5:30 pm
- 6:30 pm
- 7:30 pm
The experience is self–guided, and most visitors spend about an hour strolling the paths, stopping to take photos, and looping back to favorite spots.
Ticketing partners and event listings note that this is a rain-or-shine event and that tickets are nonrefundable, so it is worth checking the forecast and dressing for chilly, damp evenings.
Tickets, Prices, and Member Discounts
Tickets are required for all guests, and this is one of the garden’s biggest fundraisers of the year. Current prices listed by Ruth Bancroft Garden include:
- $29 — Nonmember adult
- $16 — Nonmember youth (ages 5–17)
- $25 — Adult member ticket
- $12 — Youth member ticket (ages 5–17)
- Free — Children 4 and under
Ruth Bancroft Garden members receive $4 off per ticket. Members are emailed a unique one-time discount code that they enter in the voucher box at checkout when they choose their date and time slot.
Tickets are sold online in advance, and popular weekend nights close to Christmas typically sell out. Third-party ticket partners like Fever also list Garden of D’Lights dates and times and emphasize that each ticket is good for one timed entry, with visits expected to last about an hour.
Want to go? Tickets are here: https://feverup.com/m/453084
