Moonlight in the Garden

The JC Raulston Arboretum lights its gardens after dark across three separate weekends in November, and the result is one of the more genuinely beautiful ticketed events of the Triangle fall.

The dates run in blocks rather than continuously:

• 5 to 7 November
• 13 and 14 November
• 20 and 21 November

Ticketed, and it has sold out in previous years, so this is one to book rather than turn up to. If a specific evening matters to you, book early in the run rather than hoping for the last weekend.

What it actually is: the arboretum's collections lit with installations after dark, walked at your own pace. It is not a light show you sit and watch. You move through a garden you may have walked in daylight and find it completely changed.

Practical notes:

• Dress considerably warmer than you would for a November daytime visit. Standing still in a garden after dark is cold.
• Paths are garden paths. Sensible shoes.
• It is a genuinely good photography event, which also means people stopping in front of you
• Allow more time than you expect. Most people walk it twice.

The arboretum sits off Beryl Road on the western side of Raleigh with its own parking, which makes it far less of an ordeal than a downtown evening event.