Cleveland Zoo's Asian Lantern Festival Breaks Attendance Record

CLEVELAND — The second Asian Lantern Festival shattered an international attendance record and drew more than 183,000 people to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. The event featured 40 large lantern displays, live performances and interactive exhibits.

“We want to thank the community for its overwhelming support of Asian Lantern Festival as well as our partners that helped make the event possible,” said Kelly Manderfield, Cleveland Metroparks chief marketing officer. “The event brought visitors from all over and nearly half of festival guests were experiencing our Zoo for the first time this year.”

The 2019 festival began in June and was slated for a six week run. However, larger-than-expected attendance prompted the Metroparks to extend the festival for three weeks.

Last year's Asian Lantern Festival drew 150,000 people to the zoo. That event ran for seven weeks.

The Asian Lantern Festival is the result of a partnership with Tianyu Arts & Culture, which has hosted light festivals throughout the world. In 2018, the zoo shattered Tianyu's attendance record, blowing past cities like Philadelphia and Utrecht in the Netherlands.

In 2019, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo broke its own attendance record.