12 Fun Facts about The 12 Days of Christmas Exhibit
The 12 Days of Christmas at the Dallas Arboretum is a holiday extravaganza like nothing you’ve ever experienced, featuring 12 gazebos, each modeled after a day from the popular Christmas carol. We’ve assembled some fun tidbits designed to increase your holiday knowledge and help you better appreciate this Amegy Bank of Texas-sponsored event, a $2 million, one-of-a-kind event on display through January 4, 2015.
For instance, it took 25,963 pounds of aluminum to create these 12 magical gazebos, which are 25 feet tall and encased in glass. That much aluminum equates to 11,787,202 soda cans. Here are some other fun facts:
Don’t mess with Texas. Designers from the Dallas Opera and Dallas Stage Scenery created the gazebos and awe-inspiring costumes for The 12 Days of Christmas with the assistance of Texas-based artists, builders, craftsmen and vendors (aside from wigs and bird feathering).
The bling’s the thing. Who needs five golden rings when the gazebos’ columns sport 28,328 rhinestones? And the five golden rings mentioned in the Christmas carol? It’s actually referring to five ring-necked pheasants.
Birds of a feather… If you’ve been singing “four calling birds,” you should change your tune to “four colly birds.” That is the correct lyric.
Provenance unknown. The origin of the carol The 12 Days of Christmas is French, though some sources claim that Britain is its true origin since it was first published in England.
Can’t buy me love. If you wanted to buy your true love all 364 gifts mentioned in the carol in 2012, you’d have spent around $107,300.
Two years in production. The design of the 12 whimsical gazebos began in 2012, when planning for the event commenced.
Putting in overtime. It took 16,000-plus hours of labor to build the gazebos and eight weeks to assemble them.
Raise your glass. All of the gazebos have a “music-box quality,” as they are each encased in glass. It took 536 pieces of glass for all 12, to be exact.
No berry picking. Don’t eat any of the 30,456 berries on the gazebos’ transoms. They’re made of wood.
Plenty of characters. You’ll have the pleasure of meeting 55 mannequins, each with hand-painted faces and their own personalities. If one hands you a holiday treat, don’t worry. Those are the live carolers.
Do your legwork. The entire winter wonderland extravaganza is a .75-mile walk, and the garden will remain open for extended hours so you can experience the beautifully illuminated gazebos at after dark.
Want to learn more fun facts about The 12 Days of Christmas? Buy tickets today!
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