The eighth installment of the China Lights lantern festival opens Friday, Sept. 12 at Boerner Botanical Gardens in Whitnall Park. It has a "Magical Forest" theme.
The centuries-old lantern tradition is meant to bring good luck and good harvests. The centerpiece of the Milwaukee event, which covers about nine acres, is more than 40 LED-illuminated lantern exhibits comprising more than 1,000 parts along a path that runs about three-quarters of a mile.
Tickets for this year's exhibit – a partnership, as always, between Milwaukee County Parks and Tianyu Arts & Culture – go on sale on Friday, Aug. 8.
Timed-entry tickets are available for 5:30, 7 and 8:30 p.m. with final entry at 9:30. Ticket holders may change their entry time until an hour before the event starts.
A limited number of tickets will be available each evening at the box office, which is open 5:30-9 p.m., though it may close early if the festival reaches its maximum capacity for the night.
Advance tickets (Tuesday-Thursday, Sunday) are $23, $16 for kids 3-11 and $72 for a family four-pack. On Fridays and Saturdays, admission is $28, $18 for kids and $86 for the family four-pack.
Walkup tickets at the box office are $35 for adults and $20 for children ages 3-11.
Season passes with unlimited entry are available for $65.
A limited number of discounted general admission tickets will be available for sale daily beginning Aug. 8 at Festival Foods stores in Hales Corners, Kenosha, Mount Pleasant, Somers and West Allis.
In addition to the lanterns, there will be Chinese cultural displays and videos, food, beer and non-alcoholic beverages available for purchase and nightly entertainment.
As always, live entertainment like Hat Juggling, Face Changing, Balancing and more, is included in admission, with 30-minute performances at 6:30, 7:30, and 9 p.m. (weather dependent).
China Lights runs through Nov. 2 and is open Tuesdays-Sundays, 5:30-10 p.m.
October 13 is Adults Only Night for visitors age 21 and up. Admission includes an 8 p.m. stage performance, a drink voucher and parking at the paved lot.
Once China Lights is over, the lanterns will be disassembled and transported to the next city on the festival tour. Sorry, the lanterns are not for sale.
For more information, visit chinalights.org.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press. A fifth collects Urban Spelunking articles about breweries and maltsters.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has been heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
