Discover the North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival

Every winter, the North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival transforms Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheater into a walk-through wonderland of light, illuminating the night with over 40 handcrafted lantern displays — each created by skilled artisans from Zigong, China’s lantern-making capital. Now in its 10th year and running annually since 2015, the festival has become one of NC’s signature holiday traditions, drawing over 200,000 visitors annually from across the state and beyond.

The festival blends ancient Chinese lantern-making traditions with modern LED technology, and includes nightly cultural performances featuring acrobatics, martial arts, and traditional dances. Be sure to check out the YouTube video and pictures below to get a feel for the North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival before you go — or to relive the visit after.

Over 40 Handcrafted Displays Along Symphony Lake

The festival features more than 40 handcrafted lantern displays spread across the grounds of Koka Booth Amphitheater along Symphony Lake. Each lantern is designed and built by artisans from Zigong — a city in China’s Sichuan province regarded as the historical capital of Chinese lantern craftsmanship. Displays are shipped from Zigong to NC each year, then assembled on-site by a team of visiting Chinese artisans and Koka Booth’s operations crew in the weeks leading up to opening night.

Each year features a rotating set of themes and displays — with signature centerpieces (often a spectacular large-scale display floating on Symphony Lake), interactive lanterns, mythical creatures, and animals from the Chinese zodiac. Themes rotate significantly year to year, so no two festival years look exactly alike — meaning even repeat visitors find something new each time.

One practical tip for visitors planning to record video of the displays: enable your camera’s anti-flicker settings before you start filming. LED lights pulse at frequencies tied to the AC power grid, and without anti-flicker enabled, the footage often shows visible banding or strobing. Most modern cameras include an anti-flicker or flicker-reduction setting that adjusts shutter speed automatically to eliminate the effect.

Nightly Cultural Performances

The festival’s programming extends well beyond the lanterns. Traditional Chinese cultural performances take place each night on the main stage — including acrobatics, martial arts demonstrations, traditional dance, drum performances, and more. Multiple showtimes run throughout the evening (typically 5:30 PM, 6:30 PM, 7:30 PM, and 8:30 PM), meaning visitors can catch performances during their walk-through experience.

The programming makes the festival a genuinely layered cultural experience rather than a simple light display — visitors get both the visual spectacle of the lanterns and the live cultural showcases that give the event its deeper connection to the traditions it celebrates.

A Family-Friendly Winter Tradition

The festival is produced by Tianyu Arts & Culture in partnership with the Town of Cary — an arrangement that has made the event one of Cary’s signature seasonal draws since 2015. The festival is designed to be family-friendly and accessible, with wheelchair-friendly paths throughout the venue and a designated sensory-friendly night each year (typically in early December) featuring lower-decibel music, no strobe or flashing lights, and a quiet area for visitors who benefit from a more relaxed environment.

The festival runs from mid-November through mid-January. Kids ages 2 and under are free; check the Koka Booth Amphitheater website for current ticket options, session types, and pricing.

Good to Know

Location: Koka Booth Amphitheater, 8003 Regency Parkway, Cary, NC 27518
Season: Annually from mid-November through mid-January
Running since: 2015
Displays: More than 40 handcrafted lantern displays; themes and centerpieces rotate significantly year to year (often featuring a large-scale display floating on Symphony Lake)
Produced by: Tianyu Arts & Culture in partnership with the Town of Cary
Artisans: Displays designed and built by artisans from Zigong, China’s lantern-making capital
Nightly performances: Traditional cultural performances (acrobatics, martial arts, traditional dance, drum performances) at multiple times each evening (typically 5:30, 6:30, 7:30, and 8:30 PM)
Accessibility: Wheelchair-friendly paths throughout; designated sensory-friendly night each year (typically early December)
Tickets: Kids 2 and under free; check the Koka Booth Amphitheater website for current pricing, session options, and date-specific availability
Photography and video tip: If you plan to record video of the lantern displays, enable your camera’s anti-flicker settings. LED lights pulse at frequencies tied to the AC power grid, which can show up as visible banding or strobing in video footage. Anti-flicker settings adjust your camera’s shutter speed to synchronize with the electrical frequency and eliminate that effect
Best for: Families with children, cultural enthusiasts, holiday-season visitors, photographers, and anyone drawn to large-scale seasonal light events
Pair with: A walk through downtown Cary, a broader Wake County day combining the festival with cultural stops in Raleigh like the North Carolina Museum of Art, or a warmer-weather return trip to explore nearby Jordan Lake State Recreation Area in neighboring Apex

A Cary Highlight

The North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival is the kind of stop that stays with you for the sheer scale of the craftsmanship. Watching large-scale lantern displays glow across Symphony Lake — designed and built by artisans from Zigong, the city that has anchored Chinese lantern-making for centuries — is genuinely singular among NC winter events.

The festival’s decade-long run in Cary has earned it a permanent place on Wake County’s holiday calendar, with over 200,000 visitors each year. It’s the kind of event that turns a routine winter evening into something worth planning around — and one of the few annual traditions in the Triangle that consistently delivers something new alongside its returning favorites.