Pukekura Park

Visited Festival of Lights and highly recommend! First time coming and how spectacular. Especially for something that is free and easily accessible. Great there are many entrances into the park as to not clog up any way to get in or out. Take your time to enjoy the whole route. Remember, we live in Aotearoa so keep left when walking on the track 😉 Fun for all ages. Must book in advance for the glow boats FYI. First time visiting and might go back again tomorrow night because we can!

Travelled 5hrs to attend Festival of Lights. Great experience and amazing concept. We pre-booked the glow boats which was a great start to our evening, definitely worth the value and core memory. The walk through the park itself is a refreshing atmosphere. The lights are spread across different sections of the park for each to be enjoyed at your own pace, very impressive and fascinating creations. If you seek additional adventure there’s a treasure hunt via QR code to enjoy also try find the sleepy giant in the trees :) Overall a wonderful experience and worth the visit. Thank you to the team who put this incredible experience together.

It's long been on my NZ bucket list to see the Festival of Lights and I wasn't disappointed. The park is a fabulous place to visit in the daytime but, during the summer, it really does hum with creativity and clever innovation in the evening. If you can make it to the festival, it really is worth it!

Stepping into Pukekura Park for the TSB Festival of Lights isn’t just attending an event; it feels like walking into a waking dream. The magic hits you first not through the visuals, but the vibe—a collective, hushed awe shared by thousands of strangers. Crossing the Poet’s Bridge, I found myself pausing just to watch the reflection shimmer in the main lake, a mirror world of neon purples and electric greens. It’s mesmerizing. But the real heartbeat of the festival is the people. I watched a grandfather lift a little girl onto his shoulders so she could reach out toward a hanging lantern, her face illuminated with pure, unfiltered wonder. That quiet moment of connection stuck with me more than the technology. Navigating the fernery feels like exploring an alien planet, the familiar native bush painted in light. Later, sprawled on the grass by the Hatchery Lawn, listening to live music with the smell of food truck spices drifting in the cool night air, you feel a deep sense of belonging. It’s a summer ritual that reminds you how beautiful simple, shared joy can be.

Highly Recommend the Festival of Lights! Visited the Festival of Lights for the first time and it was absolutely spectacular! It’s even more impressive considering it’s free and so easily accessible. There are multiple entrances into the park, which helps keep things moving smoothly without congestion. Take your time and enjoy the full route it’s well worth it. And a friendly reminder we live in Aotearoa, so keep left while walking on the track 😉 It’s fun for all ages and a great experience for families, couples, or friends. If you’re planning to do the glow boats, make sure to book in advance good to know ahead of time. We visited on the night of January 3rd and loved it so much ♥️

Wow and wow Beautiful park in every way. Outstanding natural beauty. Great walks and even a cafe and toilets. Highly recommend. A must see as it’s the jewel of New Plymouth.

Always love pukekura park, my older brother held his ceremony for his wedding on the hatchery lawn when I was 5-6 years old that's how long I've been coming to this park, it's absolutely amazing to come through when they have the festival of lights on between Dec - Jan does get very busy at that time of the year, it's beautiful just to go for the day and walk around to look at the different plants the fernery at the top end by the tea house is absolutely wonderful to go walk through you would not be disappointed at all. The photos attached are from this year's festival of lights.

A beautiful place to be one with nature. Went there for the TSB Festival of Lights and it was an awesome experience as the trees, plants, bridge, were all filled with colorful lights. I'm sure it's equally stunning just with it's natural beauty.

Gorgeous naturalist park with winding pathways through spectacular trees and flowers. Abundant bird life and views over the several lakes Stunning tea house at the age of one lake with views to Powys bridge and a glimpse of Mt Taranaki.

This is a very nice, multi purpose space in the middle of town. There's a beautiful lake, an outdoor concert venue, a sports arena and a very well maintained botanic garden. The gardens are beautiful with decorative bridges, a fountain, waterfall and various specialty gardens. The tea house is a lovely building also. It is visually wonderful, with a stunning view of Maunga Taranaki from the tea house.

I'm not a New Plymouth native, but came to Pukekura Park twice in a 3-day trip to the area. It was almost always the first place that people mentioned when I asked what I should do while visiting New Plymouth (particularly, since I have two small children). I first came in the evening, to see the Festival of Lights with my 4-year-old. It was a rare "date" for just the two of us (I left my husband and the little one at home). A great time was had by both of us! First, we went over to the playground and it was pleasantly full of children, parents and teens, lingering around the equipment and waiting for the light show to start. My son loved the water wheel feature and the enclosed slide. They even have a zip line for the kids, which he loved. The Festival of Lights was just cool. I really enjoyed it and enjoyed watching my son enjoy it. We loved the live music in the park, the lights on the waterfall and the disco balls hanging over Poet's Bridge. My son got a little scared of the "sleeping giant" but I scooted him out before a full on meltdown could occur. We came back the next day in the late afternoon. This was a whole family visit and it was lightly raining. That didn't stop us from having fun. We put on our rainboots and jackets and headed back to the playground, my son showing my husband all he missed out on the night before. We walked around the lakes and stopped in at the Teahouse by the Lake. We didn't actually consume anything (just used the toilets), but good to know you can get a bite to eat or a drink if you're in the mood for that sort of thing. Sadly, we didn't have a chance to make it to the zoo on this trip (inside the park) but it will be on the top of our "to do" list the next time we come back here.

Undoubtedly one of the smaller and less popular venues for international games but the cricket oval at Pukekura Park is simply the most picturesque. It sits at the entrance to the park which boasts of tranquil lakes and some of my favourite native bush walks - and if that weren't enough, you have Mt Taranaki forming the most amazing backdrop! I have watched my brother in-law play cricket here and a few international games over the years. I love the layout of this place as you get a birds-eye view from the grass terraces alongside the pitch - it really is quite something! So, take a picnic and head down to Pukekura Park, the next time they host a major game - you won't be disappointed!