There's a new addition to the glowing list of light installations that brighten up regional Victoria each year – Bendigo has Electric Wonderland, Echuca has Moama Lights, Ballarat has Winter Wonderlights, and now Mildura will be the next town to be illuminated by an exciting new attraction.
And it's not just one light installation, but double the glowing goodness with two separate, massive attractions. Both of them are the creation of internationally renowned artist Bruce Munro, who is also behind Uluru's world-famous Field of Light. Munro was inspired to create the two new attractions for Mildura, a mid-sized country town on Victoria's north-western border, due to its "unique" wide open spaces.
The first installation is called Trail of Lights, and it'll be situated on Lock Island, on the banks of the mighty Murray River (which National Geographic just dubbed as one of the best places to visit worldwide). It'll be made up of 12,500 glowing firefly lights immersed among the trees that visitors can wander through, as well as 3000 stems of light rising 3 metres tall from the waters surrounding the island. It all sounds rather magical.
But if you think that sounds spectacular, the second light installation is like nothing you would've seen before. It combines the sounds of a symphonic orchestra synchronised with fibre optic lighting, but with a classic Aussie twist. On the rolling dunes of Perry Sandhills, 80 illuminated hills hoist clotheslines will represent the different instruments that make up an orchestra, with the glowing lights interacting with a 35 minute original music composition by award-winning composer Nainita Desai. The installation, named Fibre Optic Symphonic Orchestra, is designed to create an immersive audiovisual experience.
Both of these installations are set to launch in 2025, with Trail of Lights opening first in April. But the rest of the details have been kept under wraps for now, so watch this space to find out more information when it's revealed. Tickets are set to go on sale soon, and you can sign up to register your interest here.
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