Auckland Lantern Festival

This was my first time at the AKL Lantern Festival and I couldn’t believe how packed it was! We went on early on Sunday night (around 6pm) thinking we would beat the crowds but there must’ve been thousands of people wandering around the relatively small Albert Park already.
It’s probably only takes about 40mins to see all the lanterns but I reckon why not make a night of it and set up a home base near the main stage. They have fantastic performances — when we were there a rather energetic (and shirtless) male drum troupe were performing — and there are a gazillon food and drinks stalls, just make sure you bring cash! Oh and make sure you seek out the watermelon filled with ice cream — delish!

This was our second visit, the crowds were up last year, which is good the the festival. As usual one of the hardest choices was in selecting which tasty dish and drink to have, once the choice was made it was finding a quiet spot to consume without being knocked out of your hand.
A downside of such crowds was trying to appreciate the lanterns. It is certainly worth going and for good summers family night out.

Annual event celebrating Chinese New Year. Coming from a 20 year old, the lantern festival ain’t that great, especially the second time round because they seem to reuse a lot of the same decorations/​lanterns from previous years. However, from a family with small children perspective, this would make for a great night out. The amount of people that turn up to this event is pretty impressive, make sure you keep an eye on your pack because it’s pretty easy to loose them…(seriously, there are more people than I expected to see). There’s tons of food too (not sure how great it is, but it’s generally kind of cheap and it’s not restricted to just Chinese food so there will be something there for everyone). Oh, and maybe watch out for under aged drunk teens in the bushes… I think it’s regular act that comes with the festival now.

The Chinese/​Auckland lantern Festival is an annual event in Albert Park celebrating Chinese New Year.
For one weekend a year Albert Park is aglow in fluroescent animals, flowers, sea life and much more. The place is buzzing with people, and when i say buzzing, I mean packed. We went on Sunday night and it seems everyone else wanted to end their weekend the same way.
That didn’t ruin things though, it is always such a good time. We strolled through the lights towards the food area. Stalls and stalls of food from all the asian countries you can think of. It seriously feels like your in a different country. The balmy Auckland summer night, lanterns, music, food — it’s awesome. There is karaōke going on, and then fireworks at about 10.30. It’s a great way to wrap up the weekend with the whole family.
Just get cash out before you go

Lantern Fest, one of Auckland’s most iconic annual festivals, is a gigantic showcase of Asian culture.
It is here that you can experience the most varied, authentic and fast Asian street-​side-​style food, as well as watch martial art performances and the like. Stalls line the street selling all kinds of silly novelty items that wouldn’t be out of place in a market in China. The lanterns are the main thing, though. Albert Park is completely transformed during this time. with lanterns depicting a range of different settings and scenes. As night falls, the luminosity of them is beautiful to behold.
The only thing I *hate* about this festival is that, as others have mentioned, the crowds. It becomes SO packed in the park that sometimes it is hard to move. It is for this reason that I don’t go every year — they use the same lanterns and going once, what with the crowds and all, was enough for me.

Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the lantern festival. I think it’s amazing, the lanterns look fantastic and it caters to everyone. But that’s the problem, EVERYONE turns up! Last year we went really early at around 6pm before it was dark. It was pretty packed full of people even then but at least we could see the lanterns and take some good photos. This year we didn’t get there till about 8pm. It took us almost an hour from St Lukes to even get close to Albert Park and then it was almost impossible to find a park. We were willing to fork out for a parking building too but they were all full! After finally arriving at the festival we had a small walk around but there were so many people (and we had some small children with us) that we gave up pretty quickly and left again. I think if we were to go again next year we would definitely get there earlier so it would hopefully be less crowded. The actual festival is amazing though but perhaps it needs to be held on larger grounds with more parking available.

DUMPLINGS DUMPLINGS DUMPLINGS!!! That’s all I have to say on the matter. Naturally when I knew this festival was coming up I got very excited. It was a beautiful balmy evening when my friends and I rocked over to Albert Park to get our lantern festival on. What I love about this festival is the atmosphere, it’s a bustling packed marketplace, with stall vendors hawking their wares, beautiful lanterns lighting up the night sky and the most amazing food smells. It was hard to choose what to have with so much stuff on offer, so its easier to just try everything! waistline be damned! I would recommend the melon balls with a scoop of icecream on top– huge servings and the perfect treat for a hot Auckland night. The festival itself goes from the Friday night through to Sunday, and on the final night there is a great fireworks display which is not to be missed. I went all three nights just to make sure I didnt miss anything the first two times around. Lucky for me I have a central city apartment, but if your driving in make sure to get in early to grab the best parks so you don’t have to walk from a mile away because this event is super popular. Though it is fun walking to and from the venue with a big crowd of just as excited locals and tourists alike to soak up the atmosphere of the night even more.

A free annual event held at the beginning of Chinese New Year, the Auckland Lantern Festival is a celebration of Chinese and Asian culture, which is fun for everyone to enjoy. Albert Park is turned into a wonderland of paper animals for the weekend. The displays are absolutely huge, showcasing everything from the Antarctic to a sheep farm and plenty more. It’s definitely best to head down there in the dark so you can really see the full extent of the displays.
It gets really busy so can get quite annoying if you want to take photos of the amazing lantern displays, but they’re totally worth seeing. I genuinely couldn’t believe the detail that went in to them and saw the looks of absolute awe on the faces of children around me as we walked around the menagerie.
There’s an amazing selection of Asian food stalls lined up just outside the park too offering really cheap and authentic food from the usuals like Pad Thai and fried rice to ice-​cream piled high inside a watermelon half (just look out for people walking along with whole squids on the end of a stick!) and live acts on stage, so if you wanted you could really make an entire evening out of the festivities.

On the first full moon after lunar New Year, the Auckland Lantern Festival lights up Albert Park.
For the first time this year, it offered one evening for quiet lantern viewing, minus the stalls and entertainment. It was the perfect chance to enjoy the colourful lantern displays, both traditional and modern, without the crush of the usual crowds, and I certainly hope it becomes a tradition for the Festival.
On the nights when the stalls are set up and the entertainment stage is booming, the experience at the Festival is a bit like being in a real city… there are people! Crowds even! The stalls are a staple of food carts and plasticy trinkets, along with calligraphy demonstrations and traditional music performances. I always have fun at the fortune teller and try my best to resist buying a balloon.