Viscount Weymouth Ceawlin Thynn believes Longleat has continued its long tradition of bringing pioneering attractions to the UK with its new Festival of Light, which opens to the public today.

A team of 100 skilled craftsmen from the VYA Creative Lantern Corporation, from the Sichuan province of China, have spent six months creating Europe’s largest display of giant Chinese illuminations.

About 7,000 individual lanterns, 15km of silk and 40km of LED lights were used to create a series of tableaux for the display at the Warminster safari park.

Highlights include a 70m dragon made up of 23,000 lit porcelain cups, a 20m tall Chinese temple, huge traditional Chinese masks, a family of lifesize pandas in a bamboo forest and other animals including zebras, lions and deer.

Viscount Weymouth said: “This is not only a first for the UK, but a first for Europe and it continues Longleat’s long history of being a pioneer when it comes to new attractions.

“Our ambition is to be the go to place for a unique and unrivalled Christmas experience and the Festival of Light is part of that. It’s a phenomenal display that even Winter Wonderland in London can’t compete with.”

Written records of lantern festivals in China date back 2,000 years and Zigong in Sichuan is considered to be their spiritual home.

Bob Montgomery, Longleat’s chief executive, said: “The lanterns are something I saw done in Toronto many years ago and they reached out to me. We have something here that is completely different to anything done before in Europe.”

The Festival of Light opens at Longleat today and runs until January 4. For more information, visit www.longleat.co.uk