We usually try to see Christmas lights every holiday season. Favorites include Atlanta Botanical Gardens and Fantasy in Lights at Callaway Gardens. This year, we tried out a new event – the Winter Lantern Festival.

Lantern festivals originated in China thousands of years ago. Over the past decades, the spectacular display of hand-crafted silk designs now illuminated by LED lights has spread to the United States. Atlanta welcomed the Global Winter Wonderland in 2013. Now you can catch the annual Atlanta BeltLine Parade and the newer Sandy Springs Lantern Parade.

Winter Lantern Festival Atlanta

The team behind the Winter Lantern Festival, which originated in NYC a few years ago, expanded the experience to Atlanta this year. Held at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds, the festival boasts over 1,000 Chinese lanterns.

We purchased tickets online. Although the tickets specify a certain time slot, you can stay at the venue longer if you like. We opted for the 6 pm time slot in early December before the evening got too cold.

The entrance to the festival boasts an illuminated archway made of lanterns. You can’t quite comprehend the depth of detail until you walk underneath. In ancient times, the Chinese created lanterns by stretching silk cloth over a hand-made frame of bamboo or wood. Today’s lanterns use a steel frame, but it is no less impressive.

Walking Among the Lanterns

Walking along the Midway area, we passed by large kittens, a pair of whimsical snails, and an exhibit of bird cages with colorful birds. Each structure is a detailed work of art.

Not every structure is a full lantern. The aforementioned illuminated birds in cages are a good example. Artisans lit up the bird cages with lights draped on steel structures, but only the birds and flowers were traditional silk lanterns.

Soon we came to the Aztec section with warriors flanking both sides of the walkway. We passed a lantern of a temple with 18 bells before coming across the symbol on the Mexican flag, the eagle with a serpent.

I loved that the festival encourages visitors to walk among the lanterns and get up close to them. Before entering the barn area, several photo ops with lanterns presented themselves. Kids put their heads inside the cut-out circle opening of Santa Claus, a snowman, and several butterflies.

We walked under a tunnel of red and yellow lights symbolizing prosperity and good luck. Soon, an intricate Chinese Dragon greeted us. With a fierce scowl, the dragon bares his sharp teeth – all made with a steel frame.

The Sea Life and Arctic Lanterns

By now the crowd picked up considerably. We journeyed through my favorite section – an area filled with sea life, including brightly colored fish, seaweed, clams, and even a giant turtle. Signage was minimal but I felt this area represented the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

At the far end, illuminated swings and see-saws delighted kids. However, only one of the four swings had functioning lights. We visited a few weeks after the festival opened, but it felt like we arrived on the first day when the kinks hadn’t been completely ironed out.

I will say that some of the lanterns looked worn out with stains. I’m assuming that these lanterns came from the festival originating in New York a few years ago. Instead of looking fresh and new, they appeared to have survived the elements for several years. They still provided a spectacular scene, but looked a bit tired.

My second favorite section featured arctic animals. Where the sealife section burst with lots of colors, the artic section mainly focused on blue and white colors, creating a quieter environment. Lanterns of elephants with large tusks, penguins, whales, and a panda bear positioned on a piece of floating ice entertained us.

More lanterns

Outside the barn area, a series of Venus fly-trap lanterns opened and shut their mouths when we walked by. We also passed by a row of yellow ducks before heading back to the front entrance. 

With the sky now fully dark, the lanterns showed up. We went back to the beginning and took better pictures of some of the first lanterns.

For More Information

Although held during the holidays, the Winter Lantern Festival isn’t necessarily a display of Christmas lights. Rather, the lantern festival exposes visitors to Chinese culture and the intricacies of the ancient art form. I found it a welcome break from the traditional holiday decorations you see driving down the street in December.

Traditional Chinese lantern festivals occur on the 15th day of the first lunar month. However, the holidays provide a longer window of time for the displays. And with kids on winter break, more people can attend. For more information, see the website here.