Lantern Festival moved to Auckland Showgrounds after two years of cancellations

Friday, 17 September 2021

Auckland's Lantern Festival was last staged in the Auckland Domain in 2019 (video 2019)

The Auckland Lantern Festival – an annual event celebrating Chinese New Year – will be held at the Auckland Showgrounds next year.

It comes after the festival was cancelled for the past two years due to Covid-19.

The celebration is scheduled for February 10-13 at its new venue, which was “chosen after a region-wide search”, Auckland Unlimited said in a statement.

The Auckland Lantern Festival has its new home at the Auckland Showgrounds, after many years at the Auckland Domain. (File photo)

The event was previously held at Albert Park, then at Auckland Domain, but was relocated to the waterfront after the domain lease expired.

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Northcote College’s Lion Dancers had the crowd roaring with delight at a past Auckland Lantern Festival opening ceremony.

Safety concerns were also raised about the event traffic impacting Auckland City Hospital, beside the domain.

The move away from the waterfront is due to Ports of Auckland announcing in June that it would not host events over the 2021-2022 summer season due to operational constraints, the statement said.

Mayor Phil Goff said it would be “fantastic” to bring back the event at a new location after two years of cancellations.

“Cultural festivals like the Lantern Festival help make Auckland a vibrant and exciting place to live, and I’m looking forward to joining with Auckland’s Chinese community to celebrate the Year of the Tiger in 2022,” he said.

Auckland Unlimited said the new venue was selected for its size and the decision was supported by Chinese community leaders.

“The Auckland Showgrounds is a fantastic venue that can comfortably host large, ticketed events and has big indoor and outdoor spaces, and offers our team the creative licence to develop a spectacular festival,” chief executive Nick Hill said.

“We are excited to welcome the Year of the Tiger with a roar and we know the community and Aucklanders will be looking forward to it too after two years missed,” said Hill.

Applications for stallholder sites close on October 22.

Chao Yu, the deputy chairman of the Botany and Flatbush Ethnic Association, said the new venue is “OK”, but he would have preferred an outdoors venue.

Yu said a place like Lloyd Elsmore Park in Pakuranga would offer more space and trees for lights to be hung on.

However, expectations should be adjusted due to Covid-19, he said.

“We don’t know when the next variant will come … I hope all community event organisers can get used to it and have a plan B.”

Chinese New Settlers Services Trust Foundation director Jenny Wang said she was “doubtful” the event would go ahead, given the Covid-19 situation.

“The Chinese community are cautious … if there are too many people there, people wouldn’t want to go, if there are not many people attending, that defeats the purpose.”

However, Auckland Chinese Community Centre chairman Kai Luey said he was hopeful the event would go ahead.

His organisation hosts the Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day at the Auckland Showgrounds annually. It will be held there again on January 22.

Luey said the venue would also be suitable for the Lantern Festival.