Untermyer Gardens Bathed In 'Grand Illumination' Free For The Holidays

YONKERS, NY — If you have only ever seen the Untermyer Park and Gardens' remarkable walled garden in the spring and summer, then you have never seen it like this.

The Grand Holiday Illumination is returning for 2022 to celebrate the joys of the season, according to the Untermyer Park and Gardens in Yonkers. For the past seven years, the spectacular Walled Garden, considered to be the finest Indo-Persian garden in the Western Hemisphere, has welcomed more than 20,000 annual visitors to enjoy the holiday tradition.

The Grand Holiday Illumination will have have a grand opening on Friday, Dec. 9 at 5:30 p.m. It will then run from Dec. 10 - Jan.1, from 4:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. Admission is free and free hot chocolate will be provided. The Untermyer Gardens Conservancy is located at 945 N. Broadway in Yonkers.

More than 100,000 lights will illuminate the monumental architectural features in the Walled Garden, from the open-air "Temple of the Sky" to the classic amphitheater, and throughout the garden’s carefully curated plantings and trees. The Walled Garden is based on the ancient, multi-denominational design concept for the Garden of Eden, which includes the Four Rivers of Paradise.

The Grand Holiday Illumination includes an imaginative and specially-chosen holiday soundtrack. The setlist includes musical selections from Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Zoroastrian traditions, to add a little extra spirit to your holiday stroll thought "Eden."

Organizers say that the free hot chocolate will be distributed by community volunteers.

While other public garden attractions in the region are priced as much as $40 per ticket for their holiday light shows, this is one annual tradition that remains free.

The Untermyer Gardens Conservancy, founded in 2011, in partnership with the City of Yonkers, works to restore, interpret and enhance the Untermyer Park and Gardens, and to support annual operations and capital expenses. The Gardens were created by Samuel Untermyer (1858-1940), a successful German American lawyer and progressive leader who championed women’s suffrage, fought anti-Semitism, and in advance of WWII, as early as 1933, led American resistance to Adolf Hitler. In 1916, Untermyer commissioned architect William Welles Bosworth to design the garden as part of his family estate in Yonkers. More information can be found here.