Auckland Harbour Bridge Light Show for Lunar New Year 2024

Overview

In 2024, the Auckland Harbour Bridge is marking significant events in the country's calendar in a brand-new way: with a light show.

In February, the bridge will light up to celebrate Auckland's upcoming Lantern Festival during Lunar New Year, which is taking place at the Manukau Sports Bowl on Thursday, February 22–Sunday, February 25.

The special bridge show will begin on Tuesday, February 20 and run until Sunday, February 25. The show will honour both the Year of the Dragon and the Lantern Festival itself, through the use of colour and lanterns sailing through the sky, every evening from 9–11.59pm.

Although Lunar New Year is a significant event in Auckland, it's the return of the Lantern Festival that most locals are looking forward to. The festival has experienced blow after blow during the last four years, with the COVID-19 pandemic shutting it down three years in a row. The festival was set to go ahead in 2023, until Cyclone Gabrielle blew through and made the launch of the festival impossible.

Most of the light shows in the Harbour Bridge's calendar will be accompanied by audio, which viewers can listen to on the Vector Lights website. If you're out of the city during the show's run, you can livestream the 15-minute performance from the same website.