The Missouri Botanical Garden recently brought an amazing display of art to its grounds. Described as “Art by Day; Magic by Night”, the Chinese Lantern Festival highlighted Chinese culture and history with more than twenty ornately designed structures. Since the Garden already hosts an annual Chinese Culture Days and has a Chinese Garden, having the Lantern Festival seemed to be a perfect fit.

Missouri Botanical Garden
Chinese Lantern Festival

Art By Day; Magic By Night

When I read about the Festival, JT and I knew that we wanted to go.  However, with summer temperatures topping out at almost 110 degrees for most of July, we decided that we would wait until the temps were a bit more bearable. But with the festival ending in mid-August, we knew we had to go soon, or miss out. We were down to the last week of the festival before the weather broke. On the night that we went, temps were only in the mid-seventies. For August and in Missouri, you could not ask for a better night.

Tickets for the night-time portion of the festival topped out at $22 for adults. In a city where most cultural institutions have free admission or low admission for special events, this one had a much higher price tag. But we both really wanted to go, so the price did not matter to us. We arrived to the Garden at 6:30, about an hour and a half before the lights would be turned on. This gave us an opportunity to go through the Garden and view the structures without being lit up. In order to truly see the magnificence of all structures, you had to see them both ways.

Having seen the structures during the day and at night, we were not disappointed. The $22 was well worth it.

The Missouri Botanical Garden is close to our home. If you are not planning to take a big, out-of-town vacation, look at museums and other cultural institutions in your own city. There may be something worth seeing; without the expense of finding a hotel room or paying for gasoline for the car. It may be a once in a lifetime event like the Chinese Lantern Festival.

Here are a few of my favorite photographs.

Pandas in the Bamboo Field

Art By Day

Magic By Night

J and T enjoying the Chinese Lantern Festival