Lantern Festival returns to South Auckland

Chinese New Year celebrations will return to South Auckland, but a local board chair wants to ensure the local community benefits from big events.

The BNZ Auckland Lantern Festival will light up South Auckland’s Manukau Sports Bowl as festival goers celebrate the Year of the Snake from 13-16 February 2025.

Presented by Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, Auckland Council's economic arm, the free event will feature over 500 hand-made lanterns, food stalls and fireworks.

Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board chair Apulu Reece Autagavaia says while he is pleased to see the festival in South Auckland for a second year, there needs to be more benefits for local communities.

"We've consistently been asking Auckland Council, the mayor, and councillors to bring more events outside of Central Auckland.

"Too often, we see city-centre-focused plans for our events.”

“As a local board, we're happy to see things coming out south because we want to make sure we also benefit from these regional festivals and contribute as ratepayers,” he says.

Photo / File.

Apulu says many schools and churches will open up their areas for carparks and fundraising, but he also asked what else can be gained from the event.

"Can we involve more local vendors? Can we share our stories about the Chinese Samoans? Many of our families also have Asian ancestry, so there are all these opportunities.”

Apulu has put Tātaki Auckland Unlimited in touch with local groups who are keen to be involved, but says communication is another key issue raised by local residents.

“They didn’t know what the plan was, or what was going to happen.

“Tātaki Auckland Unlimited has committed to providing better communication to locals and using our local groups to distribute that information.”

Tātaki Auckland head of major events Michelle Hooper says the festival is a cornerstone of Auckland’s cultural events.

“It’s a wonderful celebration of Chinese culture and a testament to Auckland's proud Chinese heritage.

“This is our largest cultural event, attracting over 110,000 attendees in 2024, and one of the best-loved festivals in our summer calendar."

The Year of the Snake symbolises wisdom, intuition, transformation, and personal growth.

A hand-made snake lantern, created to honour this theme, will be showcased next to the festival’s main stage.

A history of different venues

Auckland’s Lantern Festival began in 2000, when it was first held at Albert Park.

Apulu says earlier venues for the Lantern Festival became too small, with crowding causing issues at Albert Park and the Domain.

Tātaki Auckland Unlimited explored alternative locations, ultimately choosing the Manukau Sports Bowl for its space, motorway access, and public transport links.

Apulu says it was an awesome turnout last year.

BNZ Auckland Lantern Festival to light up Manukau in February 2025. Photo / Auckland Council

“There were so many people that came, and those numbers will rise, especially since we're close to our eastern suburbs, where a large number of our Chinese and Asian communities live,” Apulu says.

However, for locals near the Manukau Sports Bowl, many experienced traffic congestion due to people arriving in cars.

To address this, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited will introduce shuttles.

“I kind of see it as growing pains. It's good that we experience these things so we can learn from it,” Apulu says.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.