FestivalInformation

New Zealand's largest cultural festival celebrating the Chinese New Year. Join us at the Manukau Sports Bowl from 26 February – 1 March 2026 as we welcome in the Year of the Horse!

Festival Hours

Getting Here

Festival Map

FAQs

FESTIVAL HOURS

26 February - 01 March

4PM - 10:30PM

Getting Here

Festival Address:
Manukau Sports Bowl, 1 Te Irirangi Drive, Manukau City Centre, Auckland

We encourage the use of public transport or alternatives like walking, cycling, e-scooters and ride shares where possible.

Visitors can use free public transport by presenting their BNZ Auckland Lantern Festival ticket on Auckland Transport (AT) buses and trains two hours prior to the event and until the end of regular daily services.

Free event buses will run frequently from Manukau Train Station, Westfield Manukau and Manukau Sport Bowl.

View Transport information

Festival Map

Informative summary of where entrances, vendors and activities will be across Manukau Sports Bowl.

Click on the image to open

Festival FAQs

There are over 500 lanterns on display at this year's festival, including a brand-new snake lantern to mark the Year of the Snake in 2025. You can also see the lanterns for 2024's Year of the Dragon, 2023’s Year of the Rabbit, 2022’s Year of the Tiger, and 2020’s Year of the Rat on display.

Manukau Sports Bowl is closed to traffic. Access through Sandrine Avenue is restricted to residents and accessibility drop offs. Traffic is managed on Boundary Road. For more information, please view our traffic management map.

Limited accessible parking is available on Boundary Road next to the accessible drop-off point from Friday to Sunday. Most of the festival is accessible for wheelchair users via paved laneways. Accessible drop-off points, parking and toilets are indicated on the festival map. Some of the entertainment and activations are on green fields with undulating terrain and kerbs, which may be difficult to manoeuvre over for wheelchair users.

TicketFAQs

Yes, the festival is a free ticketed event. We encourage you to book your tickets early. Tickets also entitle you to free public transport to and from the event on AT buses and trains from two hours before the event until the end of regular daily services.

Simply show your ticket to the driver when boarding and remember to hold onto your ticket for the ride home.

Use the AT Journey Planner or the AT Mobile app to plan your journey, or visit the timetables page for scheduled bus times.

We have introduced ticketing to manage visitor flow, make it easier and free for people to get there, and to make it a more enjoyable event for everyone across the four days.

Ticketholders will be able to travel to and from the festival for free on AT buses and trains from two hours before the event until the end of regular daily services.

It’s easy – just click here to enter your details and how many tickets you would like. Tickets can be saved on your device or downloaded and printed.