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The Lantern Festival is a time to come together and reflect on both the good times and the struggles you have endured. It is a time to wish for a bright future, good fortune and joy, prosperity and good health. The festival traditionally takes place on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunisolar Chinese calendar. There are many different beliefs about the true origin of the Lantern Festival – one describes a celebration of the ‘declining darkness of winter.’ It enables people to ‘move about the night with human-made light’ (lanterns). One legend describes the festival as a time to worship Taiyi (the god of heaven). Taiyi had the ability to control destiny. China’s emperors would host festivals for Taiyi, asking him to bring good weather and health. People light up lanterns and release them into the sky, letting go of their problems and worries. Each lantern’s colour and shape has specific meaning. - A red lantern represents a wish for good fortune and joy. This can include booming life and prosperous business. - A green lantern represents growth, health and balance in nature. - A round lantern represents wholeness and togetherness in China, reminiscent of the full moon. Some lanterns have decorative writing and pictures on them too, which have their own meanings. - Decorative writing can represent wishes for a long, healthy life and a prosperous, wealthy future. Occasionally, there can be riddles on lanterns too. - Images of dragons mean strength and wisdom. - Images of bamboo mean resilience. - Butterflies and flowers mean happiness. - Trees and plants mean growth. All of these elements (colour, shape, writings, pictures) combine to create unique and deeply personal lanterns.

The Latin translation of Lunar Lepus is moon rabbit. To match the names of our other Festival lanterns, we decided to come up with an alliterative play on words! Seeing the moon and rabbit lanterns (or lunar and lepus lanterns!) together reminded the team of a well-known children’s story - Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney. There will be a special feature near this lantern for parents, children and any other loved ones to enjoy on Festival weekend. We hope you’ll snap a photo with the moon as a message for someone you love “to the moon and back”!

These huge, custom lanterns are handmade and shipped all the way from Zigong in China’s Sichuan province. Each individual lantern takes about one month to complete and is carefully crafted by artisans with more than 20 years of experience! Fish Forest The fish is a lucky symbol. This is due to its pronunciation - there’s another word that’s a homophone of fish that means having extra luck and good fortune. The fish is usually a part of New Year dinner feast as it represents abundance. Courageous Carp A special fish that’s very lucky, carp attract wealth and blessings while avoiding disasters. There is a traditional Chinese belief that the fish is metaphorically moving and striving forward against the current. Most fish can’t swim upstream in difficult oncoming water, it’s only the carp that’s able to swim or “jump” up the water. This makes the carp a lucky fish. Money Mouse 2020 is the Year of the Rat in the Chinese zodiac. In Chinese culture this means having a strong, prosperous and lucky year. We’ve used a mouse for our lantern rather than a rat because, well, look how cute it is! A well-known Taiwanese story describes how rats came into the house bringing money, good fortune and good health. Cuba Street Penguins You’ll spot our penguins on top of Wellington’s iconic diving platform, right by Te Papa. The rainbow umbrella is a tribute to the Lantern Festival’s original location on Cuba Street. The penguins will be making their way up the steps to the diving board ready to take the plunge, in true Wellingtonians style Spectacular Seahorses and The Jelly Jungle Sea creatures like the Seahorses and Jellyfish were chosen as a nod to the Lantern Festival’s new home on the Wellington waterfront.

Light up Wellington BIGGER! BETTER! BRIGHTER! We proudly announce the date and location for The Wellington Lantern Festival 2020 Date: Friday 14 February 5PM - 12AM Saturday 15 February Noon - 11PM Location: Wellington Waterfront (between Odlins Plaza and Waitangi Park) There are amazing creations coming to Wellington for the festival! In the meantime, check out our National Children's Lantern Competition! Let's get VOTING! NOW is the time to vote for your favourite lantern! It's easy! Just select the voting tab. Remember to encourage your friends and family to vote. Each voter is automatically entered into the draw to win a year's supply of RJ's Licorice. Last years winner Play Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied

Gallery 2019 2018 2017 Play Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied

Gallery 2019 2018 2017 Play Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied