GardenFest Instagram Winners

Congratulations to this year’s ‪#‎GardenFest‬ Instagram contest finalists! We had hundreds of photo submissions, and as usual, competition was fierce. We love to see Dominion Energy GardenFest of Lights through your eyes. From the Conservatory at sunset with crystal clear reflections, to GardenFest Dinners with Santa, to our giant unicorn through the eyes of a child, to a holiday stroll through the lights with Grandma, to GardenFest for Fidos, each person experiences GardenFest in a unique way. We had hundreds of wonderful submissions and it was really hard to choose these 16 finalists.

Congratulations to our ‪#‎GardenFest‬ Instagram finalists (left to right, top to bottom): @geoffgreene @hertel.lauren @tinamcgvrn @tjhennessy01 @teresagal_ @annaelizabeth27 @welshwitch78 @sgdickey @kate99118 @cmfigura @colcurran @rockytopphil @laurenball @meghanrva @nobleabby @alislens

Winner of this year’s #GardenFest Instagram contest is Lauren Hertel. Lauren won a prize package valued at over $300, including a Supernova family membership to the Science Museum of Virginia and tickets to see the Richmond Symphony. You can follow her at @hertel.lauren on Instagram. Here’s the winning photo of her daughter, Audrey, age 5.

Hertel says, “We are from Florida but have been traveling full-time for the past three years. My parents live in Williamsburg, so we’re in the area often and are members of the Garden. … I find it to be one of the most magical places we’ve visited — and that’s saying something considering all of the places we’ve been in the past few years! It ranks right up there with our other favorite garden, the Montreal Botanical Garden. We find the Children’s Garden magical in every season and think the programming there is the best of any garden we’ve visited… anywhere!”

Wow, thank you. It’s easy to tell from the photo that Audrey knows how to enjoy her adventures.

For our second prize winners we had at bit of trouble choosing, so it was a tie. Congratulations to  Anna Michael,  @annaelizabeth27 on Instagram, and Alison Brown, @alislens on Instagram, for being our second place winners. They each won 4 tickets to come back to see the Garden sometime in the next year, during Butterflies LIVE!, Nature Connects®: Art with LEGO® Bricks, A Million Blooms, or for any other daily admission. Thanks for playing everyone! Look for three more Instagram contests this spring: #MillionBlooms, #Bflies, and a new #LEGOutside  Nature Connects Instagram contest.

Sparkly lights in rainbow photo by @annaelizabeth27 or Anna Michael.

Boy looking at trains with reflection. Photo by Alison Brown or @alislens on Instagram.