Auckland Lantern festival pays homage to NZ's cultural melting pot

For 25 years, Tāmaki Makaurau has celebrated the end of Chinese New Year with the 4 day long event. But this time around, Event Director Jep Savali looks to highlight New Zealand’s unique history.

“We of course here in Aotearoa today are a very diverse culture. The Chinese community particularly have a long-standing history here in Aotearoa, so you know there's that intermingling of cultures,” said Savali.

In particular, the team wanted to find a way to artistically incorporate Kiwi culture into the mix, while still maintaining the identity of the festival. 

“We're also excited to be bringing the beginning of our Kiwiana Lantern Series with the moa,” he said.

“It’s a hark back to what is our natural history,” he explained. 

“It's an iconic bird that unfortunately is no longer in existence here in Aotearoa but was significant to this country. So we thought instead of looking at what people would normally expect, we would look back.”

The three-and-a-half-meter lantern joins a stellar collection of other animal characters, all with their own deeper meaning.

“Each lantern has its own caricature. It all represents light over dark, hopefulness for the future, prosperity and good fortune for the new year.”

Each show runs from 4-10:30pm, with Saturday entirely sold out. There is capacity available for the other three days.

Auckland Transport and shuttle options to Manukau Sports Bowl are free for those who purchased tickets.

The Festival runs from today through to Sunday.