The Chinese Lantern Festival: The Wild brings a cultural illuminated lantern display to the city of Pomona. Located at the Fairplex, the Chinese Lantern Festival offers another reason to visit the fairgrounds besides the L.A. County Fair season. For most, it is a brand new Chinese Lantern show that showcases animals and the art of China. However for some, this fills the void left by Luminasia from a couple of seasons ago.
The great thing about this event is that is a standalone attraction. Since it is not part of another event like the L.A. County Fair, there wouldn't be a need for two separate admissions. The show featured a moonlit forest with an assortment of animals and insects in lantern form; teamed up with gift vendors and a couple of shows. For the younger humans, there is a “Drive-In” area where a movie was screening and the décor simulated a “Drive-In” Theatre. A reaction from a woman attendee was, “it feels like China, also because of the roads.” The traditional Chinese music playing in the background certainly helped with that feeling. Perhaps the highlight of the evening and the main headliner was the martial arts show which had everybody flocking to during its relative showtimes. If you missed it, then that meant you had plenty of room and space for photos at the lanterns!
The event provided plenty of photo opportunities and a feeling of welcoming the New Year! Though the event started its run during the Holiday season, it definitely helped in propelling the overall feeling of looking forward to a brighter future. We're hopeful that this attraction will return bigger and brighter next year!
