Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on December 3, 2024.
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When it comes to holiday festivities, one of the best places in Pittsburgh to visit is Phipps Conservatory. Their winter flower show, which typically begins the Friday before Thanksgiving and runs until early January, is a celebration of the holiday season with festive art pieces, an array of gorgeous winter flowers, and some of the most beautifully decorated Christmas trees in Pittsburgh.
The 2024-2025 flower show is themed Holiday Magic and takes an elegant look at all things Christmas. With traditional decorations and subtle design elements, this one is simply beautiful.
As members of the conservatory, we got the chance to visit early in the season (running until January 5th, 2025) and wanted to share a few of our favorite rooms here!
The Palm Court
In many ways, The Palm Court sets the stage for the flower show that is to follow as it is the first thing you see when entering the Conservatory.
For Holiday Magic, you'll be greeted by a large and beautiful unicorn, playing on the whimsy that is the winter season and is a great spot to start family photos off right.
The Serpentine Room
The Serpentine Room was perhaps our favorite of all of the interior rooms at Phipps for the Winter Flower Show as the space lends itself to the beautiful decor.
In the 2024-2025 Holiday Magic show, the Serpentine Room features many scenes of decorative gnomes of similar design to what was seen in The Gallery Room last year. The scenes here vary from being outside near their houses, to enjoying a festive dinner with squirrels, and so much more.
This one really has some great attention to detail, so be sure to look closely at each scene to find some unique highlights!
The Sunken Garden
If you've visited Phipps for shows in the 2024 season, you likely saw that the Sunken Garden room was undergoing restoration and did not have any featured exhibits for a few shows.
For Holiday Magic, the room is back and more beautiful than ever after being completely restored. The design here is classic and elegant with poinsettia trees and festive flowers, all with a central water feature that really brings it altogether.
The Outdoor Light Garden
One of my favorite spots at Phipps during the winter flower show is, in fact, not even inside the conservatory at all!
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The outdoor Light Garden is found in the sprawling outdoor wing of the conservatory, where every tree is adorned with lights, even more ornate Christmas trees and all-light trees can be found, and other specialty made lights are visible with either the conservatory or Pitt's Cathedral of Learning as a stunning backdrop.
You may not be out in the Light Garden to appreciate the flowers that call the conservatory home, but we're more than okay with the alternative as the lights are simply spectacular.
Overall, there are many other features of the winter flower show that we could feature in this article, but as is the case in most of our museum visits, we do not want to give it all away. To see the rest, you'll just have to go visit!
The Winter Flower Show at Phipps Conservatory will run until January 5th, 2025. It is best viewed at night to experience the outdoor Light Garden which typically opens at 5 pm; however, the conservatory is beautiful at any time of day. Timed entry tickets are required. We suggest arriving at Phipps at around 4:30 pm if you can to enjoy the indoor gardens as the sun is setting and the Light Garden once the sun goes down (and then return inside to see it when it is completely dark outside)!
After visiting Phipps Conservatory, head over to the Cathedral of Learning to check out their Christmas decorations! Or if you're looking for more activities during winter in Pittsburgh, click the previous link!
