Busch Gardens Adds Nightly Fireworks, Shows

By Matt Poms Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Busch Gardens guests will have new reasons to extend their stay at the park into the evening this summer, with the introduction of a brand-new program called “IllumiNights.” Beginning June 28, the park will transform each evening into a whole new slate of performances and parades, climaxed by a fireworks finale at 9:30 p.m.

“It’s a huge, huge event, pretty much the entire park,” Busch Gardens spokesman Kevin Crossett said. “They have hourly shows that start at 5 o’clock and it might take more than one night to see it all. So the idea is to get people to enjoy it and see something new every time they come to the park.”

The focus will be on family-friendly entertainment, with each theme area putting on its own performances. Puppets and Irish folk tales are the theme in Ireland, while a parade inspired by the Parisian World’s Fair winds through the cobblestones of France. Oktoberfest will contain “the world’s largest cuckoo clock,” standing over 50 feet tall and infused with live performers and special effects; Italy will feature acrobats doing tricks with fire and water.

The event will run for 56 straight evenings through Aug. 22, and gives the park a signature summertime program.

“For 10 or 12 years, we’ve had Howl-O-Scream in the fall, and then last year we started Christmas Town in November,” Crossett said. “Those were our fall and winter events, and what we needed next was a good summer event. IllumiNights takes the base park and adds another level to it for nighttime.”

Busch Gardens will be open an hour later until 10 p.m. to accommodate the nightly performances. Running concurrently with the event will be a summer concert series, featuring acts such as the B-52’s, American Idol’s David Cook and Hannah Montana’s Emily Osment. The series will run on weekends from July 10 to Aug. 22.

Crossett said that park’s summer plans would be a great experience for families, especially those with younger children.

“The whole premise behind IllumiNights is family-friendly entertainment,” he said. “We want families to be able to enjoy themselves. Some folks are going to come to the park early in the morning, ride roller coasters all day and stay for the event that night and the fireworks. I imagine there will be some other folks that come in the afternoon just for the IllumiNights program.”

But mostly, the park hopes that each guest, no matter the age, comes away satisfied.

“I want them to walk away wowed,” Crossett said. “I want them to walk away and know that they got their money’s worth, that they saw a quality event, and maybe they saw something they’ve never seen before.”