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Overview
This is the official poster used to promote the new dates of the 2021 Auckland Lantern Festival following announcement of a three-day Alert Level 3 Covid-19 lockdown for 15-17 February 2021 by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
The festival would subsequently be cancelled following the announcement of another seven-day lockdown from 28 February-7 March 2021. It was also cancelled in 2020 (just two days after the New Zealand government announced that it would impose entry restrictions on foreign nationals arriving from China), at which point it became one of the first major public events in Aotearoa New Zealand to be cancelled due to Covid-19. The 2020 cancellation was also the first time in the festival’s over two-decade long history that it had ever been cancelled.
Auckland Lantern Festival
The Auckland Lantern Festival was first organised by the Asia New Zealand Foundation as a one-day showcase of second-land lanterns from Singapore at Albert Park in 2000. It has since developed into multi-day event with stalls and performances attracting over 200,000 attendees. The Festival's lanterns are now generally sourced from China and in 2016 the event was shifted to Auckland Domain. Former Asia New Zealand Foundation cultural director Jennifer King has ascribed the Lantern Festival's continued appeal in China and around the world to 'the simple reason that it is a very beautiful event which appeals to all ages'. This formula for success has underpinned that of other flagship 'Asian' festivals promoted by the ANZF such as Diwali, which also possesses striking visual elements and is often referred to as the ‘Festival of Lights’. The popular, transnational profile of both festivals has also encouraged their progressive commercialisation, however, which has provoked some critical debate about whose interests are being served through these festivals' promotion.