The 32nd Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival will officially light up on January 23rd.
China News Service, Sichuan, January 18 (Liu Gang, Wang Lei) On January 18, the press conference for the 32nd Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival was held at the Zigong Huidong Hotel.
According to reports, this year's lantern festival will officially open on January 23, 2026, at the Zigong China Lantern World. With the theme of "Lanterns Illuminating China, Building Dreams for the Future," the festival will present an unprecedented immersive experience and creative expression, painting a magnificent picture that spans ancient and modern times, blending technology and imagination, lighting up the New Year and bringing warmth to thousands of households.
At the press conference, the virtual singer "Luo Tianyi" made a stunning appearance, performing a one-minute preview of the festival's theme song, "Thousands of Lanterns Painting." Around the opening of the 32nd Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival, a series of exciting activities will take place: the "Chinese New Year, Global Travelers' Night" invites guests from all over the world to gather in the city of lanterns, celebrate the New Year together, and experience the flavors of the Chinese New Year, opening a new chapter for inbound tourism in Zigong; the "A Journey Like a Song, Zigong Night" themed event deeply integrates musical performances with immersive lantern displays, singing the prelude to the New Year amidst a sea of dazzling lights.
This year's lantern festival uses "Lanterns Illuminating China" as its central theme, deeply integrating intangible cultural heritage techniques such as lantern making, tie-dyeing, and paper-cutting with Chinese mythology, epics, and classic historical stories. Focusing on the imagery of the Year of the Horse, numerous folk tales, ancient legends, and folk customs will be wonderfully presented at the festival, showcasing a long scroll of art depicting "the coexistence of all things."
The festival site features ten major sections, including "Chinese Knot Avenue," "Fortune and Prosperity Square," "Mulan Legend," "Craftsmanship and Intangible Cultural Heritage," and "Magical China," using 11 large-scale lantern groups and more than 200 medium and small-sized lantern groups to create an immersive narrative space.
This year, the festival places greater emphasis on using lanterns as a medium and light as a narrative tool, allowing the lanterns to "tell good Chinese stories." The "Magical China" lantern group, inspired by the ancient text *Zhuangzi*, stretches 210 meters and depicts the majestic Kunpeng bird, symbolizing national strength and pride.
The "Legend of Mulan" lantern group, created to celebrate the Year of the Horse, is 180 meters long and cleverly blends Mulan's heroic image with galloping horses, conveying a patriotic spirit of equality between men and women. The 35-meter-tall "Chinese Knot Gate" uses the Chinese knot as its creative inspiration, achieving visual unity from both the front and back for the first time, resembling a time-traveling gate connecting the past and present. The "Yearly Prosperity" mythical beast lantern group, equipped with an AI interactive system, allows for playful conversations between the auspicious beasts and visitors, bringing legends to life.
At the same time, the Zigong Lantern Festival has always adhered to the philosophy of "innovation in tradition, and development through innovation." It continuously explores and breaks through in techniques and creativity, not only integrating cultural essence into light and shadow technology but also boldly innovating in material application and language expression, allowing traditional lantern art to radiate new vitality in a contemporary context. This year's festival boldly breaks through material boundaries, incorporating environmentally friendly and recycled materials such as blue and white porcelain, straw, medicine bottles, and chili peppers, as well as local customs and trendy elements into the creations. Through the intangible cultural heritage technique of "everything can become a lantern," ordinary objects are given artistic life, interpreting the green concept of "turning waste into treasure, and everything has a spirit" and the original intention of creation.
In the "Ingenious Intangible Cultural Heritage" lantern group section, 200 pounds of straw are transformed into a majestic golden-haired beast nearly 4 meters tall; 6,000 twisted sticks are woven into the dynamic outline of a Pixiu; and 15,000 fiery red chili peppers and 46,000 recycled medicine bottles are reborn as a magnificent phoenix and a water qilin, respectively. Particularly moving is the "Creative Lanterns Showcase" section, where lantern artisans act as "magical brush painters," collecting over 6,000 children's drawings from around the world and transforming some of them into dreamlike lanterns, allowing the innocent hearts of children of different skin colors and nationalities to meet in the lights of Zigong.
This is not only an exhibition but also a seed of excellent traditional Chinese culture that "Zigong lanterns" are sowing in the world. It is understood that this year's lantern festival focuses on "technology + interaction," breaking away from traditional lantern viewing models and incorporating technologies such as AI interaction, intelligent touch control, and light and shadow sensing to create a fully immersive experience. A specially created 300-meter "Salt Street Lantern Market" themed photography street combines ancient pavilions, cyberpunk light and shadow effects, and folk markets, offering costume and prop rental services to meet diverse photography needs.
The entire park features 360-degree immersive performances, with NPCs unfolding storylines along the tour route. Through interactive tasks, a deeply immersive experience of "a scene at every step, a drama at every scene" is achieved, allowing every visitor to become part of the story.
In terms of ticketing, this year's lantern festival maintains affordable prices. From February 15th to March 3rd (closed on February 16th, Chinese New Year's Eve), adult tickets are 168 yuan/ticket, and senior and student tickets are 98 yuan/ticket. From January 24th to February 14th and after March 3rd, off-peak prices apply: adult tickets are 118 yuan/ticket, and senior and student tickets are 80 yuan/ticket. In addition, various options such as "hotel + ticket," "cultural and creative package," and "scenic area joint ticket" are offered to meet the needs of different visitors.
It is reported that the 32nd Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival is not only a feast of light and shadow art, but also a cultural practice that connects tradition and the future, and links local culture with the world. The millennium-old salt city is ready to welcome guests from all over the world to step into this dreamscape interwoven with thousands of lanterns and celebrate a warm and brilliant New Year.
