Winter lantern festival relocates from NYC to Long Island for the first time 

A second lantern light festival is coming to Long Island — LuminoCity’s "Shine Again" opens at Whitney Pond Park in Manhasset on Nov. 12, featuring illuminated works with "Alice in Wonderland," Christmas and wildlife themes.

This outdoor exhibit is an immersive, walk-through experience previously held at Manhattan’s Randall’s Island. The other new lantern exhibit, at Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn, is a drive-thru event.

LumoCity moved from New York City to Long Island to be closer to more families, says founder Xiaoyi Chen, 37, of Queens, who launched LuminoCity in 2019 after she graduated from Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute with a degree in visual communications.

"The Town of North Hempstead came to us and invited us to Long Island. It is a great opportunity to move to our target audience," Chen says. "Ninety percent are families with kids." The Long Island location also has a more varied natural environment that allows the festival to be more "magical" and "fantastical," Chen says.

TRADITIONAL YET MODERN

Luminocity, which runs 4:30 to 9 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays through Jan. 9, was inspired by Chen’s childhood memories of lantern light shows in China, where the lantern festival is celebrated in February or March, shortly after the Lunar New Year. Houses are decorated with colorful lanterns in hope for peace and forgiveness in the coming year.

Chen’s goal was to incorporate modern themes into traditional art, she says. The show’s mascot, Lumi, is an extraterrestrial shaped like a light bulb, for instance, meant to be a symbol of positive energy. This year’s Shine Again motto is a nod to coming out of the pandemic, and to light overcoming darkness, she says. "Last year was the most difficult year we’ve had," she says.

As visitors walk through the "Alice in Wonderland" area, they will feel like they are Alice meeting the Cheshire Cat perched by a tree, the caterpillar and the rabbit, Chen says. In the holiday area, they will see a Christmas factory in which primarily friendly monsters are helping to prepare gifts. "Maybe one scary monster, the blue one," Chen says. In the wildlife area, they’ll see a panda and eel.

The majority of the lantern sculptures, which are illuminated from within, are new this year, Chen says. Six of the sculptures were created from drawings submitted children from New York and Washington, D.C. Their drawings will be on signs beside each sculpture, Chen says. A second LuminoCity festival is happening simultaneously in the Washington area, which is why children from those two urban areas were invited to participate, Chen says.

"My daughter always loved drawing, especially during COVID at home," says Shilrey Cheng of Manhattan, whose daughter Alena Chuchen, 7, is one of the featured children. "All she's into is unicorns and magical rainbows," Chen says.

Says Alena of her colorful drawing of a unicorn being brought to 3D life: "It's so exciting." She and her family, who have attended the festival on Randall's Island in the past, plan to visit the Long Island venue this year.

HOW THE FESTIVAL WORKS

Tickets are sold online only and are for a timed entry, but visitors can remain at the exhibit for as long as they wish, Chen says. People who take many photos may spend an hour walking the one-way loop; others may take 30 minutes, she says.

Parking is at the nearby Manhasset Macy’s lot; 1100 Northern Blvd. A free, three-minute shuttle bus ride will take visitors back and forth to Whitney Pond Park at 7 Community Dr. East, Chen says.

By Beth Whitehouse

Special to NewsdayBethWhitehouse1

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.