China Lights “Year of the Dragon” Opens in September

Baby dragon lantern for China Lights 2024. Photo taken Aug. 8, 2024.

The theme for the seventh annual China Lights Festival sponsored by Milwaukee County Parks is “Year of the Dragon.”

After all, 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, according to the Chinese Zodiac. In years past, the festival’s 200-foot-long dragon regularly been one of the most popular Chinese lanterns in the show. The creature is the most powerful in the zodiac and the festival will celebrate this supreme status this year with nearly all new lanterns, including a new dragon making its U.S. debut in Milwaukee.

The annual festival will begin Sept. 19 at the county’s Boerner Botanical Gardens, 9400 Boerner Dr., in Hales Corners. It will premier Sept. 19 and run through Oct. 27.

A crew from Tianyu Arts & Culture is already setting up the lanterns. The company has produced the county’s China Lights show since it began in 2017.

Along with the new dragon, visitors will also find a new 48-foot-tall display called Palace of Heaven. The new dragon lantern will be found inside.

“There’s cultural displays, there’s amazing food, there’s entertainment, and it’s seriously one of my favorite things to do in the fall,” said Parks Director Guy Smith at a press conference Thursday. “And Boerner Botanical Gardens is just gorgeous.”

The annual show is also a good source of revenue for the parks department, which gained approximately $300,000 in revenue from food and beverage sales and $500,000 on admission during the festival last year.

County Executive David Crowley said people regularly come from all over southeastern Wisconsin to visit the festival, adding that it is one of his family’s favorite Parks attractions.

“China Lights is a festival that gives us an opportunity to learn more about the Asian culture,” he said, “but it also gives us an opportunity to focus on our mental and physical health, coming to Boerner Botanical Gardens, having an opportunity to enjoy the environment.”

Tickets to the annual show can be purchased online, and begin at $23 for adults and $16 for children. The show opens each night at 5 p.m. and tickets can be purchased for one of three time slots: 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Existing members must be signed in to see the interactive map. Sign in.