The World’s Largest Kaleidoscope, which recently celebrated its 27th year and is located at the Emerson Resort & Spa in the Catskill Mountains, is debuting a brand new “kaleidoshow”, The Earth Laughs in Flowers, just in time for summer 2023.
The Earth Laughs in Flowers is a homage to the Emerson Resort & Spa’s namesake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and his 1836 essay Nature. The essay, which was inspired by the serene beauty of the Catskills, prompted the American Conservation Movement, and led to the establishment of the 600-square-mile Catskill Forest Preserve that surrounds the Emerson Resort & Spa.
Created entirely in-house, the family-friendly “kaleidoshow” is free for guests under 12 years old and boasts nearly 500 photo and video images of flora, fauna, architecture, and panoramic Catskill vistas. The music that plays behind the colorful show was also composed, performed, and recorded by staff. Since the grand opening in 1996, this is only the second new “kaleidoshow” to be introduced.
Originating in the 1800’s, the grain silo that holds the Kaleidoscope was once part of a family farm that sat on the land now home to the Emerson Resort & Spa. More than a century later, Emerson co-founders Emily H. Fisher and Dean Gitter purchased the farmlands and decided to build a tourist destination to help boost the economy and provide a source of jobs for the area. From there, construction began on the 65-foot high, 18-foot-wide silo that includes specially designed seating, allowing 30 viewers at a time to view the show. The Kaleidoscope features an intricate 37.5 foot tall, three mirror system, weighs two-and-a-half tons, and can reflect over 254 images at a time, creating an illusion of more than 3,000 images on a 50-foot virtual sphere.
Guinness World Records certified the Kaleidoscope as “The World’s Largest Kaleidoscope” in 1997, and to this day, the resort property highlights the spectacle in many ways. Nestled in the Catskills and about a two-hour drive from NYC, the Emerson is closeby breathtaking hiking and biking trails, ski slopes, and much more that inspire their nature-based “kaleidoshows”. The resort itself features 53 rooms and suites, a signature restaurant Woodnotes Grille, dog-friendly amenities, a Spa, and the Emerson Shops. The Kaleidostore, located in the shops, is one of the few brick-and-mortar shops left in the country specifically dedicated to the sale of kaleidoscopes, including many unique and one-of-a-kind scopes.
