My First Asian Lantern Festival: "Into The Wild"

Happy Friday, you ferocious firecracker! Have you smiled yet today?

If not, I got you:

Last weekend John and I visited our first ever Asian Lantern Festival at the Central Florida Zoo. These lighted festivals are apparently all the rage in zoos across the U.S. but I'm told ours is an especially snazzy example. Even better, this particular exhibit, "Into The Wild," travels! So some of you have seen these exact displays in your state, and some of you might see them soon. I love that, really spreads the joy around.

If you can't watch the video where you are right now, never fear; I also have photos, and there's so much more to see! I tried to video the ones with a lot of motion, but I took regular pics for the rest.

A line of giant candy-colored snails greeted us in the parking lot. Peep that reflection in the pond!

The entry is flanked by these froggy friends:

If you saw my video, you know they blink! ("JOHN, THEY BLINK!! YES I KNOW I'M BEING TOO LOUD.") Going in I only expected a few static displays, so this was my first inkling that we were in for something special.

These festivals are a DELIGHT to photograph, because by the time you lower the exposure enough to capture the colors, all the people in frame practically disappear.

("De-light"? See what I did there?)

The narrow entry path was flanked by lighted cacti, snakes, and even a giant scorpion and spider. This iguana was my favorite, though:

See how they painted on extra details? So you can see the wire framework underneath and the painted "scales" on top, a cool layered effect.

Ah yes, and here's us:

Say hi, us!

I told John I wanted to take more photos together, so we took a few selfies throughout the night. We went with our friends Sue and Ken, you'll see them pop up later, too.

Next a row of the most spectacular - and huge, which you'll notice is a theme - spinning "lanterns."

There are 8 all together, each a Buddhist symbol. There are helpful signs explaining each display, but with the crowds we didn't linger long enough to read them all. Even though we rarely stopped moving, it took us about an hour and half to see everything! This festival is HUGE, y'all.

Did you notice John's t-shirt up there? 'Cuz I bet you can guess his favorite display:

There's zero justice in this photo; see my video to watch the butterflies flap and undulate and change color, ooooh. Also the scale is tricky in the dark; this tree is about 30 feet tall. Ahhhh-mazing.

Then it kept getting better!

Those fireworks lights in the background *almost* stole the show. I'mma need some immediately. Plus the giant angler fish, obviously.

A star(fish) field! Reminds me of the Pixar short La Luna, which I had to re-watch just now for "research." ;) The ceramic tinkly sounds of the stars is so soothing.

Check out this view:

Three scenes in one! Everywhere we went there were more colorful lights on the horizon, drawing us on.

The sea turtles were mounted IN the pond:

A whole path of cool blue jellyfish:

And here's the final scene that was just a blur behind the sea turtles:

The lanterns were cascading down a hilly slope. I bumped the exposure so you can see the trees around it; I love that canopy overhead.

More fish, this time with dragonflies.

The wings flapped!

There were two long wooden bridges along the path: one red, one blue. Something about all this monochromatic red was like a comfy weighted blanket in the cool night air.

The crowds had thinned back here, so, unmasked selfie:

It's like we're in a dark room! Brings me back to some fun photography classes in high school and college.

(If you're old enough to have been in a dark room yourself, hi, how do *you* combat lower back pain? You know, because we're old. ;))

Moooving on...

Poison dart frog!

Giant panda scene!

ENORMOUS dragon field. Wow.

Hopefully the trees in frame give an idea of how massive this beauty is.

Woooooooooow.

I climbed onto a bench for this shot, but even with the phone 8 feet up I could barely get the face in frame. It is TALL. And so gorgeous. Look at all the details - every line you see in the teeth is a wire frame underneath! That is staggering.

One of my top favorites is next - but y'all have to help me identifying the mythical beast:

This shaggy dragon dog(?) stole my heart - I must have taken 20 pictures of him alone.

I love the fierce expression combined with the elegant wings and huggable-looking body. I WANTS TO SCHNUGGLE IT.

"Back off, lady, I don't want no hugs."

[...]

Aaaand now I have "I Don't Want No Scrub" stuck in my head.

No, I don't want no hugs

Hugs are a lot, won't get no love from me

Stay on the opposite side, for the rest of the night
And stop hollerin' at me

Ahem.

Get it together, Jen.

 

Also in the No Hugs club:

Pretty snake!

Here's the second lighted bridge, this time with Ken and Sue posing for us:

You can see back here the crowds really thin out, which was lovely.

You can follow Ken on Instagram, btw! He posts some fun stuff from around Orlando and with his drone. Say hi if you do; he and Sue are some of the sweetest people I know, A++ highly recommend adding them to your friend list.

A Wonderland path:

Just needs a light-up Alice and the White Rabbit!

You only get us, though, with one more selfie:

K, that's enough of our faces for now. ;)

Still a few more favorites to go, though!

Loooove the colors in this dog.

And here's another stunner:

This nine-tailed fox slowly changes colors!

I couldn't pick a favorites combo, they're all incredible.

Like a painting come to life, ahhh.

This reindeer(?) does not change colors, so it's a challenge to capture the blue light:

Magnificent in person, though, and easier to see the details.

This lantern festival surpassed ALL my expectations and immediately jumped to the top of my "annual traditions" list. It's perfect for date nights or to spend time with friends/family, and also great for practicing your photography! If you ever get the chance to see one, definitely take it.

Sadly "Into the Wild" ends this weekend, but the Central Florida Zoo hosts a new lantern exhibit every year during December and January. So locals, mark your calendars for next time! And if you live in the U.S., check your local zoos to see if there's a similar lantern festival coming your way.

I hope this made your Friday a little shinier, maybe gave you a little mental break from a hard week. Now, go be awesome. After you take a nap.

:D

::mwah::

*****

P.S. We have a new design in the Epbot Threadless shop! Check it out:

John designed this for our amazing FoE mods - so we also have a version with FOE in the middle - but I asked him to make an alternate with Epbot for the rest of you. As with all our shirts, you can have it printed on any color or style shirt:

And - AND! - get this: our mod Phillip just reminded me you can also get any of our shirt designs on stickers, pins, magnets, notebooks, and more.

I completely forgot about this option, so I'm discovering all these myself for the first time, oops. I'm both giddy and feel like an idiot. Anyhoo, click on the "accessories" drop down menu at the top right on our storefront to browse all the goodies. (Wait, there are greeting cards?? Oh I am so ordering these.)