Damaged dragon sinks NC Chinese Lantern Festival in Cary. Ticket holders to get refund.
Tuesday’s thunderstorms brought power outages in the Triangle, and Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheatre was not immune to the effects.
The amphitheatre hosted the eighth year of the N.C. Chinese Lantern Festival, where over 40 handmade silk lanterns were displayed to celebrate the Chinese New Year, which starts Feb. 10. The festival opened Nov. 17 and was set to end Jan. 14.
Effective Thursday, the festival is closed.
Most of the damage affected the 200-foot, 18,000-pound dragon lantern that sat in the lake of the amphitheatre. Part of the dragon was sinking into the water after strong winds and rain.
Festival engineers were not able to repair the dragon before the end of the festival, leading to the decision to end it for this year, according to ABC11, The News & Observer’s media partner.
Ticket holders who planned to visit the festival Thursday through Sunday will get refund instructions by email.
About the NC Chinese Lantern Festival
The ancient art of Chinese lantern-making began in 206 B.C. during the Han Dynasty.
Each year, the North Carolina festival adds new features. This year, it added more food items, including crispy egg rolls and wonton soup, and commemorative apparel and merchandise.
In 2022, the festival attracted over 216,000 visitors and had an economic impact of $7 million, up from 200,000 people visitors and about $5.2 million.
Over 25 Chinese artisans and performers come to North Carolina in early November to hand assemble the lanterns.
Bringing the festival to Cary is a year-round event, according to William Lewis, the cultural arts manager for the town. Each lantern and material is shipped from China to ports in Wilmington before being transported to Cary.
Tianyu Arts & Culture, headquartered in Chicago, chose Cary as one of the communities to host the festival in 2015. The firm has extended its contract in Cary through 2028.
