Chinese Lantern Festival

What an amazing event! I sure hope they come back next winter! The history, tradition and colors were all wow. It’s super beautiful when the sunset and entered into the evening hours

The lantern festival was beautiful for a winter night! There was more than enough parking and a variety or people, young and old, enjoying the lights.
My roommate and I enjoyed walking around and figuring out which light display was our favorite. Admission does cost $ 21 dollars for an adult. However! If you go with a group of four there is a slight group discount!
Definitely worth it if you have never done it before and feel like getting out of the house on one of our warmer nights.

I guess I’m one of the few who was underwhelmed by the lights. Well, not really lights. Lawn ornaments? Much smaller than I thought. We were done in a leisurely half hour. I really think it looks prettier in the pics than in person.

Everybody’s pictures turned out so good! Wah-​mine sucked but pictures do not do the displays justice. This is a traveling exhibition from China that is touring the US. It’s pretty amazing that a small team was able to assemble this in 21 days. Their next stop is New Orleans but you can catch them here until January 17^th since they extended the dates. It’s not an every year event so try to get out and see it if you can. We noticed Chinese tv crews doing reports on the event even.
We were able to get a 4 ticket pack for $ 50 and everyone in the family enjoyed it, even teenagers, it’s a great cultural experience and a beautiful event.

This was a great event put on by the booth amphitheater. I was very happy that I went. There were many light displays. This was a kid friendly event and it is outside.
There was only one food truck, though the sign said food truck court. I wasn’t too bummed by that since I got to eat before coming there.
The displays allow you to get very close to the displays. However don’t touch them. The signs say the are fraglie. They are they will remove you from the display if you do. Also they are quite hot, you will burn yourself.
There are bathrooms for use. It was dark so I did not see the handicap entrance, but I am sure there is one. This is well worth it. It will not be here much longer this year so go see it!

This was such an awesome family event! It was a little chillier this evening, probably in the 50s, but it didn’t stop the hoards of people from flocking to the exhibition.
The ticket line and entrance into the amphitheater moved quickly. Kudos to the staff. Even more so for being so friendly, ESPECIALLY the lady assisting in the women’s restroom. She made sure the flow of traffic was steady and paper towels were within arms reach. Seriously, that lady made a the wait to the lady’s rest area a 10 minute one instead of 30.
The exhibitions were GORGEOUS. Seriously, the pictures do not do the lights justice. It’s even nicer that they’re not roped off so selfie shots FOR A L L.
There’s two places to grab food: one American and one (American) Chinese. The amphitheater paths are fairly well lit, but be mindful of your footing because stadium is hilly. Parking is ample and there’s a souvenir stand inside if you want to grab a lantern or cute figurine.

Very pretty! Went on this unusually warm Tuesday night, and it was delightful walking around looking at the beautiful lit-​up lanterns.
This was the first time we have been to Koka Booth where an on-​going event was happening, so parking and parking-​lot walking meant being extra careful as folks are coming and going rather than coming, staying, then going.
Lanterns are nicely spread out so you can walk in a pattern or just ramble… and while busy, there’s ample room to maneuver around folks doing things at different paces.
Icing on the cake might have been some live music or performances, but the lanterns themselves are certainly worth seeing on their own.
TIP: Might want to get tix ahead of time. Fortunately we had some and were able to get right in. Lines appeared pretty long to purchase tickets.

What a fabulous display of colorful LED lanterns! We couldn’t have picked a better night to come with temperatures in the low 70s. The gates open at 6:30 and close at 10 PM. We strolled easily for two hours and thoroughly enjoyed each of the displays beautifully set up. It is wheelchair accessible. There are separate lines for prepaid tickets and tickets sold at the gate. Most people came in groups as there is a special of four tickets for $ 50. Otherwise, it is $ 20 a ticket for adults. There is a fabulous show as well. We caught the end when a gentleman was performing a tai chi sword dance. He then asked children and their parents to come up and do some tai chi moves with him. I highly recommend coming to this event. Parking is free and easy. There were a couple of booths selling some reasonably priced items and there was food and drinks as well. Beer was seven dollars. Lots of places you can just sit and look at all the beautiful displays throughout. We took plenty of pictures but expect crowds to be there and do the same. The flow was pretty easy even though we weren’t given a map.

What a great Holiday Event!
Other than a few commercials, and minimal news media, not much info on on the Chinese lanern festival at koka booth amphitheater.
So glad we went! A diverse crowd attended the Saturday nite we went (temps mid 60’s). Despite the crowded parking lot, inside we enjoyed a leisurely walk thru the amazing light displays.
We went with another couple, had a few adult beverages, and stayed just over 2 hours, but you could easily walk it in less or more depending on what you want to get out of it.
Avoid the long line and hi pricing at the gate, and purchase online (enter on left).