This North Carolina Town Is Hosting a Gorgeous Chinese Lantern Festival With a 21-foot-tall Dragon — and Tickets Are Still Available
The festival of lights returns for its 8th year to Cary, North Carolina.
Jakop Nazaretyan/Courtesy of Koka Booth Amphitheater
As night falls on Symphony Lake in Cary, North Carolina, a stunning sight comes into view — a massive colorful lantern dragon lighting up the waters, standing 21 feet tall and stretching longer than three school buses at 200 feet. In fact, the intricate 18,000-pound structure is so large that its head had to be installed by a 15-person crew.
The display is just one of the glorious lanterns up at the North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival at Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheatre through Jan. 14, 2024.
Running for its eighth season, the traditional lanterns were crafted by more than 25 Chinese artisans and performers who arrived in the town in early November for preparations.
Jakop Nazaretyan/Courtesy of Koka Booth Amphitheater
Jakop Nazaretyan/Courtesy of Koka Booth Amphitheater
The craftspeople helped assemble the lanterns by stretching silk fabric over steel frames and then lighting them with LED bulbs. All the materials were shipped from China — mostly from the lantern capital of Zigong in the Sichuan province — into the Tar Heel State’s North Carolina Ports in Wilmington. Meanwhile, the performers rehearsed for stage shows, which now run four times a night, starting at 5:30 pm.
“Cary’s signature festival of light returns with new lanterns, performances, and unique experiences,” William Lewis, the town’s cultural arts manager, said in a statement on the town’s site. He added that last year’s version of the “treasured destination event” was attended by guests from each of the state's 100 counties, as well as visitors from 50 states and territories.
Jakop Nazaretyan/Courtesy of Koka Booth Amphitheater
Jakop Nazaretyan/Courtesy of Koka Booth Amphitheater
Tickets are still available for the final days of the event, starting at the online discounted price of $11 for kids ages three to 12 and $16 for those 13 and up, for specific nights, or $35 for tickets that can be used any night. The gates open every evening at 6 p.m. and the event ends at 10 p.m. Special twilight tickets, with entrance starting at 4:30 p.m., are also available Tuesdays through Sundays, starting at $15 for those three to 12 and $25 for those who are at least 13.
The town of Cary partnered with Tianyu Arts & Culture, Inc, one of North America’s largest Chinese lantern festival producers, which has run 62 light festivals across the U.S. in 32 cities, attracting 4.5 million visitors. This holiday season, the organization is also hosting lantern festivals in Seattle; Oakland, California; Oklahoma City; Orlando, Florida; and Little Rock, Arkansas.
“Cue the lights because the region’s most stunning holiday tradition is back,” the North Carolina venue wrote on its site. “These larger-than-life lanterns will captivate visitors at every turn with amazing craftsmanship and artistic beauty.”
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