If you’re in the mood to celebrate the holidays, who can resist a great light show? And one of the best in the state is the NC Chinese Lantern Festival at Koka Booth Amphitheatre! Currently in its 9th year, the NC Chinese Lantern Festival is a dazzling and surreal display of colorful creatures and scenes from Chinese culture. Running from November 16 to January 12, 2025, the NC Chinese Lantern Festival has become a family favorite and hugely popular attraction during the holiday season.
Purchasing Tickets for the NC Chinese Lantern Festival
If you plan on attending the NC Chinese Lantern Festival, you’ll have quite a few options but hours are typically 4:30 to 10pm. Specific day tickets are $11 to $17 and Twilight tickets ($15 to $26) get you in earlier before the rest of the crowds arrive making for a more relaxed visit. Admittedly, the lanterns look best in the deep darkness of night (vs. twilight), the crowd usually thins out after 8:30pm or so. Tickets can be purchased online but you’ll incur an eTix service fee (approximately $6 to $10 per ticket). Note that the Koka Booth box office opens at 4pm if you want to save a bit of money and avoid the service fee. Parking is free but there is also a premium lot closer to the entrance for a $15 surcharge.
Food and activities at the NC Chinese Lantern Festival
After you pass through security and get your ticket scanned, you’ll enter a tunnel of glowing lanterns on the path to the main entrance of Koka Booth. Given this venue usually hosts concerts and events, there’s a concessions area (drinks, beer, wine, cocktails, food) and restrooms along with some fun kiosks offering treats like kettle corn and mini-donuts up front. To the left you’ll find a path that brings you to a raised pavilion area where there are additional concessions, bathrooms, and marketplace vendors.
As you scan the Chinese Lantern Festival upon entering, you’ll be mesmerized visually by a cavalcade of colors, mythical figures, and glowing animals in the deep of night. From a pair of huge lit bird wings to a giant dragon cruising on the lake to a large pagoda fronted by a smoke-breathing dragon, wow! You’ll experience a non-stop lineup of imagery and Instagrammable photo locations even if you’re not a full-blown influencer.
In addition to the beautiful lanterns, there will be a regular schedule of acrobatics and cultural activities on the main stage, along with a woman playing a classical Chinese guzheng (stringed instrument) near the center main display/pagoda area. And like any family-friendly event, there’s a large kids play area with a light-up floor, swings, games, and much more!
Head on down towards Symphony Lake in back and you’ll find a closer of food trucks serving up delicious Asian cuisine along with a lake-dwelling dragon and cluster of dinosaur-themed lanterns. Looping back up to the pavilion area, you’ll find another walkway overflowing with lanterns behind the pavilion, don’t miss it!
Overall the NC Chinese Lantern Festival is a great way to spend an hour or two with family and friends. There’s just so much to see, do, and eat here for the evening. I’m already looking forward to the tenth straight year of the NC Chinese Lantern Festival! Who knows what we’ll see next year for this special occasion!
Benny’s Big Time Pizzeria, Wilmington – A Bold Splash of Neapolitan Pizza at the Coast