February 18th 2011 marks the start of the Chinese new year. To celebrate that and bring a little social awareness of asian culture with its place in New Zealand the AsiaNZ Foundation organise a yearly lantern festival. The lanterns are all brought in from China itself and set up on display for people to enjoy in the evening for free. Combine the lanterns with stalls selling food plus tchotchke, rides of various sorts for the children and music acts (also mostly brought in from China). You end up with something that is worth a visit.
Sadly most of Auckland seem to feel the same way and the twilight hours were extremely crowded. This meant getting a clear view to photograph the lanterns was an exercise in patience and restraint. Most people are wilfully oblivious to you waiting with the camera to get the shot you want. Fortunately a healthy amount of the crowd were asians and short which made working around the crowd quite a bit easier,
If you are going to one of these in the future I'd strongly suggest scouting it first during the day - that way when you do come back it is with a plan of what you want to see lit up. Then you can work your way through the crowd with the minimum hassle and fuss. It is also worth researching where the parking is as this was in high demand and I got very lucky getting into the parking building near where this display was set up.
Still for just the price of a car park it made for a different night out. If the crowds are less numerous then you also can get a chance to try more traditional delicacies.