The Asian Lantern Festival at the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens wraps up this weekend, after marking an international mix of holidays with hand-designed displays of thousands of lights.
“To me, this is a beautiful artistic display of larger-than-life depictions of our wonderful world of flowers and plants and culture and animals,” said Zoo Director Stephanie Williams.
There are over 50 hand-designed displays throughout the zoo and gardens, but Williams noted there’s one perennial audience darling that’s back again for the festival’s fifth year.
“We brought back the dragon,” said Williams. “It's a favorite of many folks that have been coming to this event…it's close to about 140 feet long, 100 feet tall, and it’s bright reds and blues and greens and all these wonderful colors. That's just always a crowd pleaser, and I get excited every time I see it.”
But Williams said her personal favorite light display from the festival depicts bison and prairie grass, one of many representations of this year’s theme, “Into the Wild.”
“When they turn the lights on, the bison are these beautiful yellow and orange color,” described Williams. “And the way that they did the grass, when the wind blows or there's a slight breeze, the lights move, and so it's kind of these like fairy lights that just make the prairie scene come alive.”
When she says “they,” she’s referring to the lantern artists who design the displays every year.
“We partner with Tianyu Arts and Culture,” said Williams. “It's a company based out of China, and they have a headquarters here in the United States as well. They travel around different zoos and botanical gardens throughout the world. They send designers and engineers in and work with the partner to create a one-of-a-kind look and feel for that organization. And then they'll bring the displays in. It takes about a month to set up.”
Williams said a particular feature of the festival that stands out to her, besides its beauty, is its focus on education.
“Each piece has a board that lights up that gives you information,” she said. “So every piece is educational, which to us here at the zoo is a very important part of what we do – conservation and education – so it fits right in with our mission. Each one has a display that talks about the Chinese culture or gives facts about the plants or the animals. It's educating our guests as they move through the pathway.”
