A few nights ago we got tickets to see the North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival. It sleeted earlier in the day but by the time we left, the precipitation had nearly ended. However, with temperatures in the upper 30s, we were bundled to the gills for this outside event!
The ancient art of Chinese lantern making began in the Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD), a significant period for science and innovation. Each year during Chinese New Year, families view colorful lanterns to symbolize respect and prosperity. The local Chinese community is host to more than 25 Chinese artisans and performers who arrive in North Carolina in early November to hand assemble lanterns and prepare for exciting Chinese cultural performances during this annual celebration.
The colors and the variety of lanterns and lighted figures just blew me away. The amphitheater presented a bouquet of traditional Chinese figures along with representations of fireworks and also Great Barrier Reef. We spent more than two hours wandering around.
I’ll let you judge for yourself how wondrous this was!
I loved these blue wisteria!
The little boy on the bicycle is my grandson – you have to pump the bike pedals to get the fireworks to light up!
I hope you enjoyed my tour of the Festival of Lanterns!
Spectacular. Thank you. Hugs.
Glad you liked it!
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing the photos. 🙂
You;re most welcome!
I would love to views this event in person. We have something similar where lanterns float on our bay to celebrate diversity.
Lovely! Those are some really elaborate lanterns. We saw the lantern festival in Christchurch, NZ a few years ago—that was the first time I’d seen such a thing (it was free in the park).
This wasn’t free but the tickets weren’t very expensive.
Wondrous indeed! Wow, Noelle. You did great work with the photography. The colors! It just takes my breath away. Thanks so much for sharing this with us. Hugs.
I just used my phone. The problem was all the people in the way – all trying to take pictures, too!
I’ve never seen anything like this – wonderfully spectacular. Thanks, Noelle.
We’ve lived here since 1981 and we’d never seen it before!
Oh wow, Noelle! This is breathtakingly beautiful. I can only imagine how amazing it was to see in person. Thank you for sharing this xo
Thanks for sharing it, Noelle. It’s spectacular.
Absolutely – but you have to go at night! And it was coooold.
Must be lovely on the water!
Glad you liked the second hand visit!
What a lovely event to attend. So colourful.
The colors just knocked my socks off!
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Hello Noelle,
I agree, what a wonderful event! I am glad your grandson enjoyed it too.
Thank you for sharing 🙂
This is the last year the event will be local, so I’m glad we got to see it!