A festive light trail that proved incredibly popular at its debut last year is opening for a second season this week.

The Christmas Lights at Leeds Castle trail will see the castle grounds transformed into a grotto of twinkling lights and colourful projections for the season.

The castle, just outside of Maidstone, is bringing back the after-dark trail, inspired by the similar Christmas at Bedgebury event which is organised by the same team.

This year, there will be returning favourites such as the Christmas Cathedral made up of more than 1,000 lights, giant baubles hanging from the trees and a flickering fire garden.

The artistic installations, which have been created by a range of international artists, also include several new displays for this Christmas.

There will be a Chandelier Walk with light fittings suspended in the trees, created by Crescent Moon Events.

There’s also the Feast of Light, which has glowing strings filled with the colours of the rainbow; the Pixel Tree, a 12-metre tree made up entirely of LED lights; and the Spiral Spinners, which feature slowly rotating trees that cast light and shadows in different directions.

The Carol of the Bells, created by lighting and technical specialists White Light, will be one of the trail’s flagship installations for this year and features light displays that are programmed to change colour in time to festive music.

Visitors can also pick up street food, hot chocolate and spiced winter drinks along the way and also catch a glimpse of Father Christmas in his grotto.

The Christmas Lights at Leeds Castle opens from Friday, November 24 to New Year’s Eve. You can book tickets online here.

The following day, Leeds Castle’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Christmas experience also opens to the public.

The timeless children’s tale will be recreated at the castle from Saturday, November 25 and includes a snow-covered Narnia, live storytelling and characters inspired by the novel.

The family-friendly experience is included in a standard Leeds Castle entry ticket.