Your Guide to the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival in Franklin Square
The dragon is back! Everything to see, do, and eat as Franklin Square lights up.
The Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival returns to Franklin Square. / Photograph by Jeff Fusco
Franklin Square is once again lit up with giant, colorful sculptures of steel and silk. From the fan-favorite 200-foot-long dragon to a giant octopus tunnel, nearly 40 all-new illuminated installations will light up the square from June 20th through August 31st.
With larger-than-life displays, performances and other special features, there’s so much to see and do (and photograph) at this family-friendly festival. Here’s what you’ll want to know for your visit.
The Basics
Chinese Lantern Festival in Franklin Square / Photograph by Jeff Fusco
Now through August 31st, Franklin Square is filled with gigantic, colorful Chinese lantern displays — aquatic life here, a butterfly garden there, dreamy tunnels and, of course, a giant dragon. The park will be open (and free as always) during the day, but will close at 5 p.m. each night to prepare for the festival. The ticketed portion of the festival runs every evening from 6 to 11 p.m.
The festival showcases the amazing craftsmanship, cultural significance and artistic beauty of the lanterns, which were shipped from China and assembled in Franklin Square over a one-month period. While the lanterns look light and ethereal, they each have a steel frame that is welded into shape, wired with a series of LED lights (over 8,000 lights), wrapped with large sheets of silk, and hand-painted.
The Lanterns
This year features all-new lantern designs (over 30 installations), many of which have additional features like movement and interactivity.
Photograph by Laura Swartz
Some feature single- and multi-player games. Others produce fun effects — like a giant volcano that emits smoke and light-up “lava” when you press a button, drums that trigger light-up “fireworks” in the trees, and an aquarium wall that you can talk into to voice pitched-up fish. Elsewhere, swing benches power dragonfly wings and a light touch activates an “ancient smoke tree.”
Hit a button at the volcano lanterns to make them “erupt.” / Photograph by Jeff Fusco
There are also plenty of photo ops. While most displays remain roped-off to protect the art, photo-ready installations include an Instagram-inspired selfie frame with a panda friend, rainbow angel wings, and a walkthrough “jellyfish infinity room” that features fiber-optic jellyfish suspended from a mirrored cube. And the tunnels include a walkthrough octopus with eyes that glow at night — which, of course, leads to the Octopus Cocktail Garden.
Jellyfish infinity room / Photograph by Jeff Fusco
In addition to the lantern displays, the festival also includes cultural performances, a cocktail garden and other food options, and a fountain show.
Franklin Square’s usual attractions – mini-golf and carousel — will continue to run during the festival as well, but they will not be open to the public during those hours. The park’s playground will remain open (and free) during festival hours, but you have to enter from 7th Street.
During the day, you can stroll around and see the lanterns for free. The lanterns’ animations only occur when the sun sets and they turn on, so you won’t get the full effect, but it’s a great option for little ones who can’t stay up for summertime’s late sundown anyway. You can also go on the Lantern Scavenger Hunt during daytime hours to win free carousel tickets. Visit the ticket booth for information and to start your quest.
Performances and Activities
A face-changer performs at the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival. / Photograph by Jeff Fusco for Tianyu
Visitors can head to the Great Lawn to watch various cultural performances, including folk dance, circus arts and the clear crowd-pleaser: face-changing, where a performer quickly changes a series of masks with just a subtle movement of their hand or fan. Describing this 300-year-old Sichuan tradition does not do it justice; you really need to see it for yourself.
The stage performances are free with admission and will take place in three 30-minute intervals, at 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m., and 10:15 p.m. (So time your tickets accordingly.)
The Franklin Square fountain is also decked out for the festival. And there’s a special fountain show set to “Little Apple” by Chopstick Brothers. (Other shows include Dua Lipa’s “Levitating,” Katy Perry’s “Firework” and other pop hits.)
Photograph by Jeff Fusco
You can catch a fountain show every 30 minutes, aside from the three times the stage performances are running.
Returning from previous years, folk artists will be on site demonstrating crafts like lantern painting and aluminum braiding. You can find them in the cocktail tent (more on that below).
Artists at work at the Chinese Lantern Festival / Photograph by Jeff Fusco
In addition, there will be free hands-on activities on Friday and Saturday evenings. At 7:15 p.m. and 9 p.m. you can participate in a dumpling workshop with Sang Kee. At 8:15 p.m.,learn baduanjin, a traditional form of Qigong exercise. And you can meet one of the face-changers (and take a photo with them) at 6:30 p.m. Your ticket includes all activities.
Eat and Drink
The Franklin Square fixture SquareBurger will be operating as usual, with familiar favorites like burgers, fries and shakes. In addition, Sang Kee’s pop-up stand has a variety of Chinese specialties in combos and à la carte options, including spicy dan dan noodles and dumplings. Sang Kee also has a pineapple smoothie that comes in a pineapple, so live your best life.
Photograph by Laura Swartz
You’ll also find pan-Asian cuisine, courtesy of Oishii, including seaweed salad, mochi ice cream, chicken satay, bubble tea and bao buns. You’ll also find Humpty’s Dumplings and — new for this year — Chickie’s and Pete’s Crabfries, so there’s really something for everyone.
The Octopus Cocktail Garden tent is serving up signature cocktails — plus mocktails, beer, and wine. The crowd favorite? The Koi Krush, which is served in a fishbowl and contains popping boba for some added whimsy. The cocktail garden is open till 10 p.m., and you can stroll through the entire festival in the square with your adult beverage in hand.
Not enough? There’s another new treat for this year: cotton candy art, in shapes like Hello Kitty, Pikachu, and cute animals.
Plan Your Trip
Photograph by Jeff Fusco
The Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival takes place at Franklin Square, located at 6th and Race streets. The show is outdoors, and it’s rain-or-shine. You can reschedule your tickets with 24 hours’ notice. If the conditions are so severe as to force a cancellation, ticket-holders will be emailed.
Tickets are available online and on-site, though purchasing online in advance is strongly recommended because popular times sell out. Sundays through Thursdays, tickets are $16 for ages 13 and under, and $27 for adults. Adult prices prices go up by $2 on Fridays and Saturdays. Kids age two and under are free. And if you really love the lanterns, there’s a new ticket option for this year: a festival pass, which will get you in all season long. That’ll run you $80 for adults and
There’s no re-entry, but you can stay as long as you want once you’re inside the festival.
If you want to play mini-golf or ride the carousel, plan ahead because there are combo tickets available online to save you a little money on the Franklin Square attractions.
