Chinese Lantern Festival comes to life
Yes, there are lions and tigers and (panda) bears at the Chinese Lantern Festival in Riverfront Park, but there are also giraffes, peacocks, butterflies, zebras, elephants and dragons.
The crowds came out for the first night of the festival as darkness fell Saturday and almost everyone seemed to have a cellphone in their hand, taking pictures and shooting video.
Each piece in the displays is made of satin stretched over a welded frame covered in lights, making them delicate enough to warrant many “Please don’t touch” signs.
One young boy was so excited that he ran in front of the display of dragons yelling “This is sick!”
The show, which runs until Nov. 1, is put on by Tianyu Cultural Transmission Co. Ltd. in Sichuan, China. It is the first time the company has put on a Chinese lantern display in the United States, said volunteer coordinator Johnell Agee.
It took a crew of workers nearly two months to put the thousands of figures in the 31 displays together.
“The planning takes a year,” she said.
After so much preparation Agee said she was happy that the display is now open.
“It’s actually really great to see people’s reactions, because it’s something new and different in Spokane,” she said. “It’s a cultural experience.”
People seemed to appreciate the hard work that went into the brightly colored animals, flowers and trees.
“They’re just so pretty,” said Audry Osborn, who came with her daughter and grandson. “Look at them.”
Many of the animals move and one of the elephants squirts water from its trunk.
“Everything has something different to it,” Osborn said. “This is all new. I’m so glad it came.”
Josh Coch and Kassia Bennett stood in front of the dragon that stretches for dozens of feet and snapped pictures on their cellphones.
“There’s a lot of variety,” Bennett said. “It’s fun to see it all lit up.”
The two agreed that the panda bear display was their favorite.
“They’re the coolest,” said Coch. “It seemed like each one had their own personality.”
“I was making a joke that it’s panda-monium,” said Bennett.