Photo courtesy of Sichuan Tianyu Culture Communication Co. Ltd
You can finally take that vacation to China without leaving the country.
The Ohio Chinese Lantern Festival will return to the Ohio Expo Center’s Natural Resources Park starting Nov. 17. Visitors can once again immerse themselves in Chinese culture, with more than 39 illuminated displays from Zigong, Sichuan, China’s capital for the art of lantern-making for centuries.
Made from silk fabric, steel frames and thousands of LED lights, the Chinese lantern is typically lit around the 15th day of the first lunar calendar month. Each lighted object represents some sort of symbol or ancient Chinese folk tale. Patrons can walk among the lighted petal pathways or gawk at the enormous 200-foot-long dragon display as they enjoy a night filled to the brim with historic and cultural experience.
“All 35 sets of lanterns, except the dragon, will be different this year,” says Huiyuan Liu, event manager for Tianyu Arts & Culture, Inc. “We’ve also added new Christmas-themed lanterns and other lanterns that are made with new techniques and new materials – not just metal and fabric – to give audiences a ‘wow’ experience.”
The festival is presented by Tianyu.
In addition to the lanterns, the festival offers performances each night at 6 p.m., with additional show times on Fridays and Saturdays. Performers’ specialties include jar balancing, martial arts and umbrella juggling.
“The face changer is returning this year, but all the other acts will be different,” says Liu. “Besides acrobats, we’ve added lots of traditional folk dance and music performances.”
Admission also includes access to exhibits featuring Chinese dress and a plethora of handicrafts made by some of the best artists in east Asia. In addition, viewers get the chance to see special dinosaur exhibitions and fossil replicas. Some of these pieces – the tallest of which reaches three stories in height – are sent to different countries for traveling displays, zoo exhibits and amusement parks.
Photo courtesy of Fred Ernst and Sichuan Tianyu Culture Communication Co. Ltd
Tianyu hopes its lantern shows and other traditional entertainment performances will help establish better intercultural communication between China and the rest of the world. Liu is especially happy to be back in Columbus again.
“We’ve even included a new exhibition area where visitors can walk through and learn the background stories of lantern-making and the history of the festival itself,” she says.
The festival, which runs 5-10 p.m. each day, runs through Jan. 7.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for youth and free for children under the age of 2. All tickets can be bought online or at the door.
For more information, visit www.ohiolanternfestival.com.
Tessa Flattum is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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