By Lincoln Tan of 
The new 30-metre Year of the Dragon lantern at the Manukau Sports Bowl. Photo: NZ Herald / Jason Oxenham
Hundreds of lanterns including a silk dragon measuring 30 metres long will set the Manukau Sports Bowl aglow as the Auckland Lantern Festival returns after a four-year hiatus.
Last year's event was all ready to go when the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods closed it down, and the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the festival for three consecutive years before that.
The festival will run at the Manukau Sports Bowl from Thursday, 22 February, to Sunday, 25 February.
Event director Jep Savali said the team are just "super, super excited" to be able to bring back the city's largest cultural event that traditionally brings the 15-day Lunar New Year celebrations to a close.
"Memories of what happened last year are still very raw and painful, we were 80 percent packed in and then the anniversary floods came and took us out," Savali said.
The festive lights from more than 500 lanterns will come on nightly from Thursday through to Sunday, when a fireworks display will bring the festival to a close on Sunday, 25 February at 9.50pm.
The zodiac lanterns commissioned for the years when the event was canceled, the rabbit, tiger, ox and rat will also be publicly displayed for the first time alongside the dragon lantern - which is 4 metres high and measures roughly the length of two buses.
The lanterns will be on display beside the main stage.
"We're very, very, very excited about unveiling our special new dragon lantern," Savali said.
"This year, it is really poignant that we're in the Year of the Dragon. The festival was started by our foundation partners Asia New Zealand Foundation in 2000, the Year of the Dragon at Albert Park as a one-day event.
"We've evolved 24 years later, two full zodiac cycles and we're back to celebrate the Year of the Dragon."
Highlights at this year's festival include 44 food stalls, 20 retail stalls, and a courtyard featuring traditional clothing for hire and traditional and contemporary art.
The Year of the Dragon is significant in the Chinese zodiac calendar, Savali said, represented by the only mythological creature in the zodiac which is associated with power, luck and prosperity.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said the Lantern Festival and the lineup of events happening in Auckland in the coming months "shows why Auckland continues to live up to its reputation as a world-class destination for events".
"I am excited about attending as many of these festivals as I can, and I know what it means for Aucklanders to have such an array of local events happening on their doorstep," Brown said.
"The impact of these events is priceless - from social and wellness benefits to job creation and economic benefits."
The festival typically attracts 160,000-200,000 people, and when it outgrew long-time venue Albert Park in 2015, it was then held at Auckland Domain.
The 2020 domain event, and the 2021 and 2022 festivals - which were set to take place at Ports of Auckland, and Auckland Showgrounds respectively - were cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Chris Simpson, head of major events at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited says the return of the festival has been much anticipated by Aucklanders.
"This BNZ Auckland Lantern Festival is such an important part of Auckland's cultural life, and it's been missed by Aucklanders and visitors alike.
"Last year we were tantalisingly close to holding the festival at this new venue, and we know Aucklanders are more than ready to experience the festival's range of food stalls, cultural performances, and displays this year."
This story was originally published by the New Zealand Herald
