Next Monday (February 22 2016) is 元宵节, commonly known in English as the Lantern Festival. If the lack of fireworks for Spring Festival and welcoming the Money God are anything to go by, Shanghai's fireworks ban within the inner ring road means that celebrations may be a little muted compared to previous years. But there are still three official Lantern Festival events taking place around town for you to check out once you've munched your way through some traditional tangyuan dumplings.
Holding a Lantern Festival celebration for the first time this year is the former Expo site in Pudong. Their International Magic Lantern Carnival sees an array of lanterns and lights presented with themes such as 'shining stars' and 'magic balls' in addition to lots of monkeys. Installations from the Fête des Lumières will also be on show at what organisers claim is Shanghai's biggest ever Lantern Festival celebration - it'll take over an area the size of 30 football pitches in the gardens beside the Mercedes-Benz Arena. The event is set to run until March 13th from 3.30-9.30pm daily (last entry at 8.30pm) at the Italian Square; entry costs between 80-120RMB.
As with last year, Guyi Gardens' Lantern Festival celebrations will only be taking place during the daytime for 2016. Worries about the park's ability to cope with large crowds means there will be no night time lantern activities as in previous years so expect things to be a little muted here. Nevertheless, the park has been decked out in decorations for the Spring Festival period, and the classical gardens are still worth a visit.
Cancelled last year following concerns over crowd control due to the (Western) New Year’s Eve disaster on The Bund, Yuyuan’s lantern festival is back for 2016. The area has been done up with an array of colourful lanterns and lights that have been on show since the start of the Spring Festival holidays, and they’re due to be there until Thursday 25 February, just after the Lantern Festival. Just be warned that the area will likely be extremely busy for the festival itself.
You can see full venue info for all these locations by clicking 'read more' below.