Cleveland Metroparks Zoo today announced that approximately 150,000 guests visited the first-ever Asian Lantern Festival presented by Cleveland Clinic Children’s over its seven week run. The first-time event for Northeast Ohio brought special performances and more than 40 large scale lantern displays featuring hundreds of colorful lanterns illuminating Cleveland Metroparks Zoo after-hours.
The event, which began in July was originally slated to run for five weeks but large attendance led to an additional two week extension that concluded on September 3
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“We want to thank the community for its overwhelming support of Asian Lantern Festival,” said Kelly Manderfield, Cleveland Metroparks Chief Marketing Officer. “This unique event enhanced our guests’ experience and attracted new visitors, spanning generations.”
A survey of guests showed more than 50 percent of Asian Lantern Festival attendees had not visited to the Zoo in more than a year.
Cleveland Metroparks partnered with Tianyu Arts & Culture to bring the festive and cultural displays to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. While Tianyu specializes in bringing light festivals all over the world, the customized event at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo broke U.S. and international attendance records for Tianyu exceeding attendance in previous markets such as those in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Utrecht in the Netherlands.
In addition to the brilliant lanterns, visitors to the festival were able to enjoy authentic Asian cuisine, a craft market and live acrobatic performances each night.
The event was made possible through partnerships with Cleveland Clinic Children’s, Fifth Third Bank and T-Mobile.
“We’re looking forward to building off the success of this event and how we can offer more unique opportunities to the community we serve,” said Manderfield.
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