Auckland's Much-Loved Lantern Festival Has Been Cancelled for 2020

Auckland Lantern Festival has been cancelled for the first time in its 21-year history.

Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) General Manager – Destination, Steve Armitage, said that the decision to cancel this year's festival resulted from "growing concerns within the community as to the timing of the event in relation to the evolving Novel Coronavirus situation."

"We fully respect the wishes of the Chinese community who have shared their culture and tradition with Aucklanders through the Lantern Festival for 21 years," he said.

The Auckland Lantern Festival is New Zealand's biggest cultural event. It celebrates the best of traditional and contemporary Chinese culture through hundreds of illuminated lanterns, live entertainment, an immense fireworks display and a generous stretch of food vendors.

The event originally started in 2000 under the stewardship of the Asia New Zealand Foundation, and annually attracts more than 200,000 people. The 2020 festival was due to open on Thursday, 13 February as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations.