The Grand Rapids Lantern Festival welcomed more than 175,000 guests to John Ball Zoo during its ten-week run, shattering last year’s number of 109,000 visitors.
“We even saw people from all over the country come, even Canada, we heard about people coming just to experience it.”
Darci Mitchell is the Promotions and Events Manager for John Ball Zoo. She explains the draw of the festival.
“We were really the first place to see it in Michigan, and I think it was just a really unique experience for our area. There was really nothing comparable.”
The festival is a one-mile walk through the zoo illuminated by dozens of giant handmade lanterns in the shape of animals, flowers and other objects representing Asian culture. Live entertainment such as acrobats and musicians also perform.
The lanterns come from Tianu Arts & Culture, a Chinese lantern festival producer that promotes conservation and sustainability. According to Tianu, the Grand Rapids festival had the most attendance for a lantern festival than any other partner.
But will the festival be back next year? Mitchell says definitely.
“We’re working really hard with Tianu to switch up the lanterns and the theming and make sure that every year people come back, it’s not the same lanterns at all and it’s a whole new experience so you can come multiple times in multiple years and see something new.”
Kent County officials estimate John Ball Zoo has more than a $100 million annual net economic impact on the community.
