Looking for a way to light up your Labor Day weekend? Longwood Gardens can help with that.
The Chester County botanical gardens will host another dazzling Fireworks & Fountains show at 8:15 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 5. Dubbed "It's Always Sunny at Longwood Gardens," the grand display of lights and colors will be set to weather-inspired music, from Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr. Blue Sky" to The Weather Girls' "It’s Raining Men."
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The centerpiece the shows is Longwood Gardens' Main Garden Fountain, a $90 million project completed in 2017 with 1,719 jets and streams powered by 68 pumps. When it comes to orchestrating the colorful, dancing water with barrages of fireworks, Tim Martin, the associate director of main fountain garden performance production, told PhillyVoice that he likes to structure shows in three acts, each with their own awe-inspiring climax.
"We begin working with themes, then add in the playlists which usually leaves us with at least one hour of music to play with," Martin said. "Then we begin to pare down, looking to create arcs of story, as well as thinking musically and dynamically, while paying attention to the transitions between songs and the momentum going from one to the next."
Reserved seating for the Labor Day weekend show is sold out, but you can still snag a spot on the lawn if you're OK with standing or bringing your own chair. No blankets will be allowed. Lawn tickets cost $45 for guests ages 19 and older and $25 for guests ages 18 and younger. Garden members can purchase tickets at a discounted price.
If you want to get prime real estate on the lawn, Longwood Gardens opens at 10 a.m. and will allow guests to set up chairs in the Main Fountain Garden at noon. If the show's not your thing and you'd rather spend the day strolling around the sprawling conservatory, timed tickets are available on Longwood Gardens' website. Arrival times range from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. In anticipation of the Fireworks & Fountains show, the gardens will close at 6 p.m. to all general admission guests and members.
Check out the weather-inspired playlist for "It's Always Sunny at Longwood Gardens" below. For a list of future Fireworks & Fountains shows, visit Longwood Gardens' website.
• "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra
• "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina & The Waves
• "Heatwave" by Martha & The Vandellas
• "Here Comes the Rain Again" by Eurythmics
• "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons
• "Good Day Sunshine" by The Beatles
• "I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash
• "Hot Hot Hot" by Buster Poindexter and His Banshees of Blue
• "Blister in the Sun" by Violent Femmes
• "Walkin’ on the Sun" by Smash Mouth
• "I Wish it Would Rain" by The Temptations
• "It’s Raining Men" by The Weather Girls
"It's Always Sunny at Longwood Gardens"
Sunday, Sept. 5
8:15 p.m. | $45 for guests ages 19 and older; $25 for guests ages 18 and younger
Longwood Gardens
1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, PA, 19348