China Lights features Moon Festival Weekend

UPDATE: China Lights will be closed Friday, October 6 due to the potential for inclement weather.


HALES CORNERS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- China Lights: The Magic Returns is a celebration of Asian culture featuring larger-than-life sculptural lantern displays on 10 acres of the renowned Boerner Botanical Gardens, professional Chinese folk-culture entertainment, and cultural demonstrations. Last year, the wildly popular festival attracted more than 100,000 visitors.


The Moon Festival is a traditional Asian mid-autumn celebration of family reunion and peace at a time when the moon is at its fullest and brightest of the year. The Moon Festival Weekend is hosted by the Milwaukee Chinese Community Center & OCA-Wisconsin


Moon Festival Weekend features

  • Authentic homemade foods: Mooncakes (the traditional sweet treat of the holiday), Chinese lamb skewers
  • 2 stage performances per night by members of the local Asian-American community
  • Cultural Workshops/Presentation: Lucky-money-envelope lanterns, story telling
  • Tea Cultures Presentation & Gonfu Tea (tea ceremony with up to 10 audience participants)
  • Check presentation (Friday, 6:50 p.m.) to American Red Cross for hurricane relief (over $10,000)
  • Continued fundraising through “You Name the Price,” a sale of items donated by the MCCC, OCA-Wisconsin, others


China Lights features

  • 50 larger-than-life sculptural lantern displays
  • An Illumination Parade
  • 6 performances per night Friday through Sunday, with professional acrobats, martial artists, and musicians from China
  • Cultural Displays with examples of traditional Asian clothing
  • A bustling marketplace, with demonstrations of traditional handicrafts
  • Asian and Western food options, Ralph’s Wine & Sake Bar


China Lights will be open through October 22, Tuesday–Sunday from 5:30–10 p.m. at the Boerner Botanical Gardens located at 9400 Boerner Drive in Hales Corners.

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