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The Lantern Festival in Orlando: What It Means and Where to Go

“Lantern festival” can mean two things in Orlando. There’s the traditional Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of Lunar New Year, and there are the big glowing light shows that run through the winter. Here’s what each one is and where to find it.

A pipa musician performing on a lantern-lit stage at Celebrate Lunar

Lantern events around Orlando

If you’re after a night out among giant lanterns, these are the events most people mean. They aren’t connected to Celebrate Lunar, so check their own sites for tickets and dates.

  • Asian Lantern Festival: Into the Wild. Held at the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens in Sanford on select nights from November 13, 2026 through January 17, 2027. See the zoo’s announcement.
  • ILLUMINATE at Aquatica Orlando. Aquatica’s nighttime lantern festival ran through January 31 in 2026. We haven’t seen dates for this season yet.
  • Water Lantern Festival. A floating lantern event where guests set lanterns on the water. Dates and locations change, so check its website.
  • Lunar Lantern Festival. Held February 14 and 15, 2026 at Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City, in Pasco County. We haven’t seen 2027 dates.

The traditional Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival, called Yuánxiāo Jié (元宵节) in Chinese, falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the first full moon of the new year. It closes the Lunar New Year season. In 2027 it falls on Saturday, February 20, two weeks after Lunar New Year on February 6.

The festival is about 2,000 years old, and its themes are simple ones: family, light and the promise of the year ahead.

How people celebrate

  • Lanterns. Red lanterns fill streets, temples and homes, and children often carry their own.
  • Riddles. Riddles are written on lanterns for people to solve, a tradition that’s still a favorite with families.
  • Tangyuan. Sweet, round rice balls served in warm soup. Their round shape stands for family togetherness. In northern China they’re called yuanxiao.
  • Lion and dragon dances. Performers often bring the season to a close with one more parade.

The same full moon across Asia

Other cultures mark this full moon in their own ways. In Korea it’s Daeboreum, when families share five-grain rice and crack nuts for good health in the year ahead. In Vietnam it’s Tết Nguyên Tiêu, often marked with temple visits. Read more in our guides to Seollal and Tết.

Lanterns at Celebrate Lunar

Celebrate Lunar is a Lunar New Year festival rather than a lantern show, and we run during the day, from 12 to 7 PM on Saturday, February 27, 2027. That’s one week after the Lantern Festival, at Luminary Green Park in downtown Orlando.

New for 2027, you’ll find lantern and décor installations around the park, along with lion and dragon dances, live cultural performances, festival food and local curated vendors. It’s a joyful way to carry the season a little longer. See more Lunar New Year events in Orlando.

Get your tickets for Celebrate Lunar and join us at Luminary Green Park.