First-Ever Chinese Lantern Festival Comes to Boerner Botanical Gardens in October

MILWAUKEE -- The night sky will be much brighter the fall as the Boerner Botanical Gardens is set to host their first-ever Chinese Lantern festival over the month of October.

China Lights: Boerner Brighter Than Ever will fill the Botanical Gardens with a celebration of Asian culture, featuring 40 larger-than- life sculptural lantern displays from Oct. 1–30. Boerner Botanical Gardens is located in Whitnall Park at 9400 Boerner Drive.

From a three-foot baby panda in Panda World to a three-story Chinese palace pagoda, 1,000 sculptural components will be created on-site by more than 30 artists from China. Welded metal frames covered in fabric will emerge as flowers, peacocks, cranes, butterflies, archways—all LED-lit- from-within lanterns. A nearly 200-foot- long dragon is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

China Lights will be open Tuesday–Sunday from 5:30–10 p.m. The festival will be closed Mondays.

Each night at about 6:15 p.m. members of the entertainment staff will lead a procession to light the displays in the entertainment and concessions area of the festival. The Illumination Parade will conclude at the main stage in time for the first performance of the night.

Stage performances will highlight folk-culture entertainment at 6:30 and 8 p.m. A bonus performance will be added Fridays through Sundays at 9 p.m. Acrobats, dancers, and jugglers will be among the performers.

Admission is $15 for adults (age 18–59) and $10 for seniors (age 60 and up) and children (age 5-17). Children under age 5 will be admitted free. For $30, a patron may purchase a one-visit VIP ticket, which includes a behind-the- scenes tour, optional participation in the Illumination Parade, fabric lantern, and mobile guide.

Each weekend will have a special theme.

• Oct. 1–2, Opening Weekend will kick off the festival with a ceremony, giveaways, and tours.
• Oct 7–9, Asian Cuisine/Chicago Weekend will offer food sampling, cooking demonstrations, special pricing on food, and free tea and fortune cookies. The first 2,000 visitors from Illinois who present identification at the admission gate will receive a free, 12-inch, outdoor fabric lantern (a $10 value).
• Oct. 14–16, Moon Festival Weekend, presented by the Milwaukee Chinese Community Center, OCA-Wisconsin, and Tri City National Bank, will feature Chinese calligraphy, painting and knot-tying demonstrations; food demonstrations making dumplings and snow-skin mooncake; cultural demonstrations of water-lantern- floating and watermelon carving; and demonstrations of special interest to young children, including making paper lanterns, making kites, and face painting.
• Oct. 21–23, Cultural Weekend will focus on tea, with a tea ceremony by Rishi Tea, and presentations
• on the history and folklore of tea.
• Oct 29–30, Closing Weekend will feature giveaways and the closing ceremony.