Auckland Lantern Festival 2022

Overview

Update: This event has been moved online due to New Zealand's current red status in the COVID-19 protection traffic light framework.  Music playlists, Chinese recipes, craft guides, games, videos, and a photo gallery of the 800 lanterns created for this year's event are all available now on the online site. 

After being cancelled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Auckland Lantern Festival is set to make its return this February in a brand new venue.

The festival is New Zealand's biggest cultural event, annually attracting more than 200,000 people to enjoy the best of traditional and contemporary Chinese culture. The event originally started in 2000 under the stewardship of the Asia New Zealand Foundation. It has previously been held at Auckland Domain and Albert Park.

For this first time this year, the ASB Auckland Showgrounds will host the Auckland Lantern Festival. Celebrating the Year of the Tiger, over 100,000 Aucklanders are expected to head through the doors over the four days.

Whether you're keen on making it a family day out or you're just set on getting a bloody good Instagram snap, there will be highlights for everyone. Wander between hundreds of illuminated Chinese lanterns in the lantern pavilions, enjoy cultural music and dance performances on the main stage and sample traditional cuisine from local food vendors. An immense fireworks display rounds off the event.

The 2022 event will be ticketed to allow for crowd management and contact tracing. Tickets for specific entry times can be booked at aucklandnz.com/lantern.