CHANGE OF DATE FOR MOON LANTERN FESTIVAL

Adelaide Festival Centre has announced a change of date for Moon Lantern Festival in 2016, from Saturday 17 September to Sunday 18 September.

Moon Lantern Festival is a flagship OzAsia Festival event, bringing thousands of South Australians together to celebrate cultural diversity in our state. 

Douglas Gautier, Adelaide Festival Centre CEO & Artistic Director, said that, “Moon Lantern Festival has evolved into a major event for South Australia.  We have been working closely with Adelaide City Council and DPTI to ensure the success and safety of the event in 2016.  As the football season has evolved, it appears that there is a strong chance that the Adelaide Crows will play a finals game at Adelaide Oval on the original Moon Lantern Festival date.”

“This is of course, fantastic news for South Australia and we’ve very excited about being part of what will be an incredibly exciting weekend in Adelaide.  We have made the careful decision to move the Moon Lantern festival date to avoid a clash with the potential football final to avoid any overcrowding and access issues, so that all attendees at Moon Lantern Festival can feel confident that they will have a comfortable and enjoyable experience with us in Elder Park.”

“The change will also provide the opportunity for people who are fans of both the football and of Moon Lantern Festival to be able to attend both landmark events if they do happen to occur on the same day.  To accommodate families and schools on a Sunday night, the parade will start slightly earlier than usual.”

In addition to the date change and to ensure a great experience for visitors, Adelaide Festival Centre are making preparations for increased  food outlets and amenities and introducing new crowd control measures and vantage points in the precinct.

Additional points for Moon Lantern Festival:

• Elder Park will be aglow with a Spring Festival colour scheme, with over a kilometre of pink, yellow and red festooning lanterns throughout the Park.  A trail of 20 large exquisite lanterns will be placed throughout the Park for families to explore. 
• Adding to the outstanding visual display, The River Torrens will be filled with hundreds of brightly coloured floating lotus lanterns and the Riverbank Bridge will be strung with kites and festooning.  The largest lantern ever created for the Festival, the 40 person long Hong Kong Dragon, will once again lead the parade through the Park so audiences can see it up close. 
• Visitors will be able to take in performances from local and international groups at three stages, as well as throughout the Park as performers rove during the day.  The Moon Lantern Festival program of music will showcase local multicultural groups in addition to international acts invited to perform from different countries in Asia. 
• Contributing to the feast for the senses, food options will include many of South Australia’s finest food vendors, as a mix of stalls and food trucks will be located in and around the precinct.
• The parade will once again feature a beautiful display of fireworks at its conclusion and will be accompanied by world-class musical outfit, SIU2 from Hong Kong.