China Lights Will Be Expanded, Extended in 2025
'Magical Forest' aims to delight visitors.
Chinese lantern display for 2025 China Lights festival. Photo taken Aug. 8, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.
The eighth annual China Lights festival returns to Boerner Botanical Gardens in September, this time summoning the spectacle of a “Magical Forest.”
The festival is being expanded this year. It will open Sept. 12 at the botanical gardens, 9400 Boerner Dr., in Hales Corners. and run through Nov. 2. The extended run will include more than 40 new lantern displays and a new Adults-only night on Monday, Oct. 13.
The annual festival is put on by Tianyu Arts and Culture, Inc. It’s sponsored this year by Tri-City National Bank. Versiti is also offering free and reduced tickets to the event for blood donors. Donors who participate in a blood drive at the botanical gardens on Aug. 16 will receive a free ticket, and beginning Sept. 1, donors across the state will receive a voucher for $3 off admission to the festival. Tickets are now on sale at the festival website.
It is the year of the snake this year, according to the Chinese zodiac. That’s fitting for the eighth year of China Lights, said Huiyuan Liu, of Tianyu Arts & Culture, because snakes and the number eight are both symbols of luck in Chinese culture.
The festival expansion this year follows a successful run in 2024. The event attracted more than 120,000 guests and generated $320,000 in food and beverage sales and $600,000 in parking and admission revenue.
“These funds are crucial and they directly support our ability to maintain and operate parks across Milwaukee County,” said Parks Director Guy Smith. “With ongoing funding challenges, events like China Lights help ensure that we can continue to provide safe and welcoming public spaces for all.”
To make parking easier on the weekends, the festival will operate a free shuttle service between the Hales Corners park and ride lot at S. 108th St. in Greenfield. The shuttles will run from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
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