Lights are cool!

By: Carlos Glick

Things to do in NYC Lantern Festival Snug Harbor. Credit: http://www.metro.us

New York City has its 2nd Annual Winter Lantern Festival over at Snug Harbor. There, you will find culturally decorated lanterns from a big shark, whose mouth opens widely enough (like a tunnel) in which you walk through. It is honestly amazing. 

One of the pictures (located above) looks like a Chinese building, which it is, and you can find many Chinese architecture lanterns at Snug Harbor. Additionally, you’ll find lanterns from the Chinese New Year calendar, which will have various types of animals and will show you different years along with different characteristics. 

It’s honestly quite cool.

The New York Times talks about the festival by saying “‘Game of Thrones’ isn’t filming there but this creature does qualify as special sorts: Ablaze with LED lights, it is part of an inaugural Chinese-style lantern festival on the Cultural Center’s South Lawn.” 

Like I said before, you can find many Chinese architecture lanterns, including a gigantic Chinese dragon, which is beautifully decorated with lights, along with toad frogs and even big flowers. Not only are these lit up as well, different types of dinosaurs ranging from a stegosaurus to even a tyrannosaurus rex, they even have life-size animals such as fish, zebras, flamingos, hippopotamus, even a jaguar, to name a few.

Hungry, or looking for souvenirs while at the Lantern Festival, they even have places in which you can shop and eat as well. For the kids, especially, they even have interactive lights, almost like a dance floor, in which you can get your groove on. 

According to the Staten Island Advance, the festival attracted more than 150,000 visitors during its six-week run last year. The festival has more than 1,000 LED lights displays and 50 over-the top themes for Staten Islanders, or really anyone, to explore. 

Not only will the festival have lights to explore, they will feature live performances on the South Meadow stage. These performances will include Tibetan folk dance, plate/bowl spinning, hoop tumbling, straw hat juggling and a face-changing magician. 

This year, organizers plan to expand the food options and the holiday market. NYC Winter Lantern Festival merchandise and products from official vendors will also be sold. 

According to the Staten Island Advance, there are 10 must see displays. These displays include The Iconic Light Tunnel, a 100-foot-long alligator, a holiday tree, colorful walkways, Dinosaur World, the main gates, a grand entrance, the Connie Gretz Secret Garden, under the sea jellyfish, and Mystical Creature Magic. 

The NYC Winter Lantern Festival will take place from November 20, 2019-January 12, 2020. Event hours are Wednesday and Thursday from 5-9:30 pm and Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 5-10:30 pm. The festival is closed Mondays and Tuesdays with the exception of Dec. 30th and 31st from 5-10:30 pm.  

General admission is $23 per person, $20 per student, seniors with proper ID and $17 for children ages 12 and under. A group grate of $18 per person is available for parties of 30 or more. 

Academic Affairs has reached out to the CSI community with a unique opportunity. Use the coupon CSI15 to get 15% off to this year’s NYC Winter Lantern Festival, which is Bigger, Better and with ALL-NEW experiences this year. The code expires on Dec.15th, so grab the chance while it lasts. 

This is an experience that is unforgettable and honestly spectacular. When I went last year, I was in awe of the whole thing. Go while you still can! It will be magical.