Every year, my husband and I spend a bit of time near Atlanta, Georgia, visiting his family for the holidays. Over the past 7 years we’ve been together, that’s given us quite a bit of time to explore this bustling city and see what it offers for the holidays. One of my all-time favorite experiences in the area is the annual Winter Lantern Festival!
This stunning event lights up the night with over 1000 Chinese lanterns, featuring everything from chubby pandas to immersive underwater scenes. The festival also features a variety of talented performers who demonstrate some impressive gymnastic and coordination skills! It’s all so much fun!
In the past, this event was held right in downtown Atlanta, next to the famous SkyView Ferris Wheel. But it’s been moved in recent years to a less crazy location on Sugarloaf Parkway (The Gwinnett County Fairgrounds).
Tickets currently start at $22 per adult, but prices vary depending on the night and time you choose. You can also get discounts for groups of 6 or more!
*This post has been updated from 2020 with more current information on pricing and location. Please be aware that the festival’s displays and shows may change at any time.
About the Winter Lantern Festival
Light Displays
As you walk through the safari archway, you’ll see snakes, sloths, and tropical birds perched in the trees’ overhanging branches.
The next display pays homage to the beautiful crane, one of China’s important mythological motifs. The flock showcases a lovely blue and pink color pallet, with the central crane standing tall in an ever-changing colored egg.
From there, the theme turns to some of the more classic safari animals, including tigers, zebras, gorillas, chimps, rhinos, and jaguars. Another archway featuring white giraffes graces the sky overhead, and at the end of that path sets one of my favorite exhibits: the panda bears.
A tall tree covered in color-changing flowers holds a little pack of chubby panda bears, and they’re just so cute and sleepy-looking!
The area culminates with a long line of safari animals extending down the next path. Here, you’ll also see elephants, a crocodile, ostriches, gazelles, lions, and giraffes.
You can get a better view by turning the corner here and walking the length of the menagerie, but don’t forget to return to the crossroads!
If you keep right at the crossroads towards a small off-shoot, you’ll come across a more interactive and whimsical selection of lights.
First up is a music box shaped like a grand piano with a twirling ballerina in the center. The ballerina spins while on the ground, a giant keyboard allows children to plunk out notes with their feet.
Just a few steps away, a dazzling myriad of “fireworks” fill the sky from tree-hung lights. These are exceptionally beautiful in conjunction with the Skyview in the background!
Next up, you can take your picture in a magical Pegasus-drawn carriage, complete with Cinderella-esque pumpkin features. There may be a line for pictures in the carriage, but if you want one, go for it! It’s a cute and unique photo opportunity.
The last thing in this off-shoot is a line of glowing, circular swings. Each swing is a full circle and changes hues through all the colors of the rainbow! There are about six swings, and the lines can be long, but the swings are so fun to sit in!
Back on the main path, you can walk past the menagerie as well as some booths filled with intricate arts and crafts. Authentic Chinese fans, sculptures, tapestries, paintings, and even interior-personalized bottles are available here.
At the end of this row, a giant heart dominates the corner with an ever-changing display of colors. If two people approach the heart at the same time, they can press two buttons together to make the words “I love you” float across the heart!
Another small circuit off to the right has a particularly impressive and interactive exhibit. A large pink guitar shape lies on the ground, covered with tall steel rods of varying heights. Atop each pole sits a lighted globe, and at the tip of the guitar’s headstock, there is a small microphone-like apparatus.
When you blow into this microphone, the globes light up in blue and white waves as if you were blowing bubbles!
Off to the side, there is also a colorful “rockstar” display with a small stage, music notes, soundwaves, and a decked-out guitar.
After this point, the exhibit themes change to aquatic animals. The showcase item here is a giant open-mouthed shark. The shark’s skin constantly changes hues, while the gaping mouth offers the perfect place for a photo. When you’re done, you can walk all the way through the shark to access the rest of the festival.
In this back nook, you’ll find sea turtles, eels, and a big red octopus, as well as some delicious food! If you’re hungry, this is a great place to try steamed pork buns, among many other traditional dishes.
The aquatic area continues through another gorgeous archway. I felt that this one was the most immersive one because the lights extend all the way overhead. From the ceiling, jellyfish lights dangle their tentacles toward the floor, where more outlined jellyfish line the sides of the path.
Outside the jellyfish archway, a final aquatic exhibit features a school of blue and yellow fish swimming through colorful seaweed and coral, with one larger, color-changing fish in the middle.
Before you keep going, don’t miss the fairy tree on the corner. This enchanting tree has colorful globes trailing from each tip and pearlesque strings draping from every limb. It was probably my favorite exhibit of the entire festival because it was so different and mystical.
The final section of the Winter Lantern Festival features birds and flying creatures. Displays of vibrant peacocks, butterflies, and more fill this last area with plenty of colors and stunning centerpiece birds. This section culminates with the crane exhibit.
In addition to the incredible colors and lights of each display, many of them also have moving parts, like flapping wings or moving mouths, which help bring each one “to life.”
The Show
In addition to the lights, the Winter Lantern Festival also had an incredible show! I’ve included videos and a short summary of each since words can’t really describe the full scale of their performance.
The first act featured two male gymnasts swinging and tossing lighted balls around on lengths of rope while doing a variety of tricks and complicated moves.
The second act had a girl hula-hooping enough hoops to cover her entire body as well as juggling several in some impressive coordination feats.
In the third dangerous and suspenseful act, one male gymnast balanced on a tower of rolling tubes!
The fourth act featured a female dancer performing “The Peacock Dance,” a traditional Chinese dance.
In the fifth and final act, the two male gymnasts performed a tumbling routine, complete with raised hoops that they’d jump through in synchronization.
Closing Thoughts on Atlanta’s Winter Lantern Festival
I hope you enjoyed this post and that you get to visit the Winter Lantern Festival this year! The festival is open until January 2, 2024, so there are still a few days to pop over if you’re in the Atlanta area. And it is worth every cent!
If you have any questions, please post them below. And if you enjoyed this post, don’t forget to like, save, and share it with your friends! It’s a great way to start planning your own trip to the Winter Lantern Festival and help everyone know what to expect.
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Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Happy travels!
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