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Auckland’s Iconic Lantern Festival On The Waterfront Has Been Cancelled

By Urban List Writers
19th Feb 2021

A lantern of a fighting man.

New Year is possibly the best holiday in existence. There’s something incredibly freeing about the idea of a year ticking over—particularly the one we've just had—making us feel like we’re ready to face anything. And of course, there are all the festivities which come with the occasion. Well, unluckily for us Aucklanders, we can no longer celebrate the occasion once more in March thanks to the Chinese Calendar and the annual Lantern Festival.

Having been cancelled last year due to the COVID fubar, the Auckland Lantern Festival has again been cancelled for 2021. Next year we hope it will be back bigger and better than ever at a stunning new waterfront location a week later than advertised thanks to the recent uncertainity around alert levels. Captain Cook And Marsden Wharves will see themselves adorned in hundreds of beautiful, handmade lanterns of all description, shining bright against the evening sky. 

For the first time the event will be ticketed, to allow for planning and crowd control. Festival Event Producer Eric Ngan says: “Safety is a major priority for us. Through ticketing we can improve our crowd and capacity management throughout the festival, and support contact tracing. We are asking everyone to book their tickets early - choosing a specific entry time to the festival.”

You can expect the usual hustle and bustle of plenty of street stalls over the four-day festival, selling cool Asian crafts and of course, delicious Asian food. The festival will offer all sorts of neat activities for all ages as well as various forms of entertainment featuring music and dance performances, martial arts demonstrations, traditional Chinese art and crafts and a banging fireworks display over the water.

Possibly the best thing about the entire thing is the event is completely free to attend and absolutely everyone is invited. So come along, treat yourself to some tasty food, enjoy the performances and celebrate the Year of the Ox—it’s gonna be lit so book your free tickets here.

The Details

What: Auckland Lantern Festival
Where: Captain Cook and Marsden Wharves, 
When: 2022!

Why not make a real day of it and book in at Weta Workshop Unleashed or The All Blacks Experience?

Image credit: Gareth Cooke

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