New Zealand prides itself on celebrating the diverse cultures of its many ethnic groups. As home to a thriving Chinese community, the celebration of Chinese New Year is no exception.
There’s also nothing more Kiwi than enjoying a great party, which is why Aucklanders have continued to do Chinese New Year bigger and better every year – this Year of the Monkey will not disappoint.
For this year’s party, you need to come to Parnell, Auckland’s oldest suburb, to celebrate one of the world’s most ancient festivals and the most important holiday of the Chinese calendar.
Lantern Festival in stunning Parnell Heritage Park
To accommodate the ever-increasing number of festival goers it attracts each year, New Zealand’s largest celebration of Chinese culture, the Auckland Lantern Festival, has moved from its former venue at Albert Park to the Auckland Domain in Parnell.
The Lantern Festival lasts from 18 to 21 February, with a lantern-only night on Thursday, 18 February from 7-10.30pm.
Just a 10 minute walk from the centre of Parnell, the Domain is a spectacular location for this vibrant and magical 2000-year-old event celebrating Chinese culture, where the lighting of the lanterns heralds the end of the festival to mark the start of the Chinese New Year.
A vibrant occasion for the whole family
All the elements of the Lantern Festival that hundreds of thousands of Aucklanders have come to love over the past 15 years will be on offer. So gather your family and friends and head on over to the Domain in Parnell to experience the energy, vision and taste of this amazing Chinese festival.
Not to be forgotten are the delicious food stalls, arts and crafts stalls, and non-stop entertainment showcasing the best of Chinese culture.
There will be roaming and stage performers, including one of Beijing’s biggest alternative rock bands, Second Hand Rose, acts by the Guangzhou Acrobatic Arts Theatre, puppeteers from the Shanghai Puppet Theatre, and the Guangdong Philharmonic Choir offering southern China’s best-loved pieces of music.
Finally, no celebration could ever be truly Chinese without a spectacular fireworks finale that will light up the Auckland night sky.
Parnell is alive with monkey business
In addition to the Lantern Festival in the Domain, Parnell is celebrating Chinese New Year with all the monkey business it can muster.
As the city’s ‘creative quarter’, Parnell is a natural home for the celebration of Chinese New Year – putting on a programme bursting with cultural events, monkey and entertainment.
Parnell also has a historical connection with the city’s Chinese community, with some of the early Chinese market gardens being established between 1875 and 1900 in Parnell’s Carlaw Park and the Domain.
How fitting then that this year, Parnell is the centre for Auckland’s celebration of Chinese New Year, and the spectacular Domain is host to that most beautiful of events, the https://www.parnell.net.nz/auckland-lantern-festival/Lantern Festival.
Parnell’s Lantern Festival is definitely a not-to-be-missed event for everyone in Auckland.
