Fourth Annual Chinese Lantern Festival Opens This Friday

Cary, NC – The North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival is one of Cary’s newest traditions and has quickly become its most popular, attracting close to 100,000 visitors from all around the world to see the Chinese LED lantern displays and live performances at Koka Booth Amphitheatre.

Fourth Annual Festival

The North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival starts this Friday, November 23, 2018 and runs until Sunday, January 13, 2019 at Koka Booth Amphitheatre. The festival features dozens of lantern displays made up of more than 15,000 LED lights. The majority of the lanterns are made in Zigong, China and then shipped across the Pacific Ocean to eventually make it to Cary.

“There is nothing as spectacular as when we flip the switch and turn on these lanterns,” said Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht at the preview event on Tuesday, November 20, 2018.

Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht

Tianyu Arts and Culture, Inc. brings the lanterns and live performers to Koka Booth Amphitheatre and signed a five-year agreement with the Town of Cary last year, ensuring the event will continue for the coming years.

While next year is the Year of the Pig, the festival features a large number of pandas, from a panda king at the opening gate to a small panda village with pandas performing various anthropomorphized tasks.