Food, fun and lots of kiddie activities at the Auckland Lantern Festival. Take the whole family to this bright and colorful event.

When: Thursday to Sunday, March 1 to 4, 2018

Where: Auckland Domain, Domain Dr, Grafton, Auckland

How much: Free admission

In celebration of the Chinese New Year, the Auckland Domain will be illuminated by beautiful lanterns for four days of food and fun and festivities. Here’s a quick guide for moms.

March 1

On Thursday, it’s Lantern Appreciation Night and you can take the kids for a stroll at Auckland Domain. You can expect a smaller crowd and more parking spaces because there will be no food stalls or entertainment. If you want quality time with the children without having to worry about the crazy crowd then this is the day for you. You can just grab dinner on our way home. A Chinese takeaway, perhaps?

March 2 to 4

From Friday to Sunday, it’s going to be full festival mode on. Experience traditional and contemporary Chinese culture with a vibrant atmosphere and delicious cuisine. All throughout the three days, there will be food and craft stalls, rides and games for kids, martial arts demonstrations, xi’an shadow puppets, lion dance, NZ fil commission short films, lao qiang (old tune), Xingguang Acrobatic Troupe, Dj sessions, a saxophonist, throat-singer, khöömei artist and more.

Make sure to watch out for DJ stages, face-painting, dough and sugar artists; calligraphers and stilt walkers on Saturday and Sunday. The fireworks finale is on Sunday at 10:15pm.

Make sure you tag your photos with #LanternAKL18field and #aucklandmamas. See you there!

Here’s a venue map to help you navigate your way through the crowd.

For more details, visit this Facebook Event or  www.aucklandnz.com

Images: www.aucklandnz.com