The UK’s biggest Chinese lantern festival is coming to Yorkshire for the first time this winter.
Dragons the length of three buses and 40,000 light bulbs used to create more than 30 giant handmade lantern displays will illuminate Roundhay Park in Leeds from November 25 to January 2.
The Magical Lantern Festival Yorkshire will take place at the famous park, covering around 10 acres. Tickets are on sale now for the festival which centres around a winding, dramatically lit lantern trail, with displays featuring lanterns as wide as 20m. There will also be a separate entertainment area and food village, which is free to enter, with a paid-for outdoor ice rink, Santa’s Grotto, mini fun fair and virtual reality experience.
The festival – run by Weli Creative – launched in London last winter, attracted more than 110,000 people in six weeks and has been shortlisted for four awards in the upcoming Event Awards including Outdoor Event of The Year, Game Changer, Best Debut Event and Creative Event of The Year.
The festival has also joined forces with the Jane Tomlinson Appeal as its official charity partner and will help raise funds for the well-known Yorkshire organisation.
Ian Xiang, the festival’s co-founder and Creative Director, said: “Lantern festivals have been running for more than 2,000 years across Asia, but they are still new to the West. After the success of our first in London last year, we said we had to come to Yorkshire. Roundhay Park is an amazing place for us to illuminate and celebrate both Christmas and the upcoming Chinese New Year.
“Most of the lanterns are actually made in my hometown in China, so it makes me incredibly proud to see them come all this way across to the UK. This festival will show many people something they’ve never seen or experienced before. It has the potential to increase understanding of Chinese culture here in the UK in a way that is entertaining and, importantly, something that can be experienced as a family.”
Mike Tomlinson, husband of the late Jane Tomlinson CBE of the charity, added: “It’s great to have the support for our charity from this completely new and exciting festival for Yorkshire. The plans for it look amazing and hopefully it’s something that can run long into the future.”
Tickets are on sale now priced at £12.50 adults, £10.50 concessions, £8.50 children and £38 for a family ticket. For more information about the festival and to book tickets, visit;
www.magicallantern.uk
Ice rink and other activity prices are all available on the website too.
