Asian Lantern Festival: Illuminating the Cleveland Zoo

A fews years ago, I attended my first lantern event at the Pittsburgh Zoo. As soon as I saw that the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo offered a summer lantern festival, I knew that I had to put it on my bucket list. Last year, I was a bit too busy to attend, but this year I put it tops on my list. I was super impressed by the beautiful displays and creative theme.

An Asian Lantern Festival is a cultural festival celebrating Asian heritage, tradition, and culture via beautiful illuminated displays. In Chinese culture, a lantern festival (Yuanxiao) marks the end of the Chinese New Year. This colorful celebration marks the 15th day and first full moon of the Lunar New Year. Many cities throughout the US now host events inspired by this beautiful tradition. It’s a bit pricey, but worth it in my experience to see something different.

My favorite summer event!

Since moving to Cleveland, Mike and I purchased a membership and regularly enjoy visiting. It’s one of the best zoos we have come across during our travels. The zoo puts on a number of great events throughout the year including a festive winter lights spectacular. Honestly, most of the best events we have enjoyed since relocating have taken place here.

The Asian Lantern Fest runs from July through August. 2025 marks the 8th year of the festivities. The walk though (which I recommend over the drive-through) takes place Thursday-Sunday nights. The nice thing about this event is that the lanterns are different each year, so you can come back again and again and see something new. According to the Metroparks website, there are 70 scenes this year with thousands of individual lanterns. We were really impressed with the display and found it even more colorful and enchanting that similar events.

Find your animal!

I also recommend finding out which animal you are according to the Chinese Zodiac. There is a cool display here where you can find career recommendations based on your birth year. They had something similar at the Pittsburgh event but it’s always fun to see if your personality matches their prediction.

The lantern walk through: How long is it & what will you see?

We really lucked out as it was a cool, 70 degree and relatively dry night. In recent weeks, the temps here have been hovering in the high 80’s with high humidity. It was really enjoyable walking around with the nice weather. I am not sure I would have lasted so long with 80+% humidity.

The lantern displays line a 1.5 mile long paved path. This is the distance from the front entrance. We had to park in the overflow lot, which adds another mile or so to the route. We also viewed the entire display twice, so we got in our mile for the day. This trail does not go through the Australian Adventure or Cat and Primate house sections of the zoo so it won’t be as hilly as an ordinary walk around.

Enjoy a few pictures we took during our stroll. All the lights were so pretty and well organized. I would imagine that most guests will want to plan at least 1.5 hours to see everything. We were at the zoo from about 8-10:30.

I really loved the walk through tunnels the most, unfortunately so did everyone else. It’s hard to get good pictures as everyone is walking and trying to get a selfie at the same time!

I particularly loved the Animals of the Nile and Ocean Creatures display. It was really creative and not something I’ve seen at other similar events.

A few cool animal themed displays – you will see everything from gators to bees.

I really loved the Ocean Life section. It was just so colorful and eye catching. Everyone was attempting to get pics at the same time, so it was hard to catch a great shot. We walked the trail twice and got to take some better pictures around 10 when the place cleared out.

You will also notice a lot of dragon displays as you walk around. In western cultures, dragons are typically associated with evil. In Chinese culture, dragons represent power and strength and correspond with the male Yang, in opposition to the female, Yin element. If you have ever visited an Asian gift shop, you will notice these lucky dragon figures throughout.

Will I see any animals?

It’s best to visit during the daytime if your main goal is to see all the animals in action. Most animals will not be out at night, except for cats. If you arrive at 6:30 (the earliest reservation), you may see a few cats. We got to see the snow leopard who was very active and even walked along his overhead passageway.

Plus, most of the zoo is closed during this event including the wonderful Primate and Cat house which alone justifies a visit in my opinion. I am guessing this exhibit is closed because it is accessed via a steep walk up a tree canopy walk or a tram tour, which would be impossible to run with the crowd levels. I really like this zoo and would recommend a separate visit (it’s one of the city’s top attractions).

How crowded is it?

This event is very popular with both locals and tourists as evident by the crowds. We could barely walk for the first hour, but thankfully, the place really started to clear out around 9pm. At this time, it was so much easier to take pictures.

For the first hour, I recommend enjoying a treat or seeing one of the live acrobatic shows. There is a special Asian food court near the entrance, serving sushi, fried rice, specialty cocktails, and rice bowls. We arrived at the zoo around 8 when it was much too light outside to see any displays. We enjoyed some veggie potstickers from Wow Bao while we were waiting for it to get dark enough.

Dining Options

During this event, there is a special food court where you can order fried rice with and without pot stickers, customizable rice bowls, and sushi. For those who do not like Asian food, a few of the zoo’s regular stands are open including: Pizza Hut, Tenders Chicken, and The Burger Kitchen. There is also a Honey Hut ice cream stand (by the zip line), which is a pretty decent local company which serves healthier ice cream made with honey.

I would not recommend Tenders as they are overpriced and we always have some problem (they are out of sauce, the food is cold, etc). Also, the Pizza hut breadsticks are nothing like the ones you usually get (they are always stale and flat and honestly not good). I would eat dinner elsewhere (there are plenty of good local restaurants throughout the city) and just treat yourself to ice cream.

Extra activities

You can watch a specialty acrobatic show at the Savanna Theater at: 6:45, 7:45, 8:45, and 9:45 p.m. Each show lasts about 20 minutes. This show is included with your admission ticket.

Carousel and zip line rides require an extra fee.

Pricing, dates, times, & additional info

Location: The zoo is located at: 3900 Wildlife Way. Parking is free. Staff will direct you towards the overflow lot if the main lot is full.

Pricing: $24 for members and $27 for non members (with advance online purchase). It will be $30 at the gate. Drive through rates are $49 per car for members and $59 for non members. I recommend purchasing online and avoiding the extra hassle. Online tickets required for drive though dates.

Walk through dates for July: July 5th, 6th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 31st

Walk through dates for August: August 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th

Hours: 6:30pm-10:30pm

Drive through nights: Timed entry only. July dates: 9th, 16th, and 23rd. August dates: 6th, 13th, and 20th. Pricing is $49 per car for members and $59 for non members. Note: You can’t leave your car and smoking is prohibited.

Accessibility: Wheelchairs ($12) and electric scooters ($30) are available for rent at the main gift shop.

Please check the zoo website for additional info. Also, check the event schedule as info is subject to change. Note that prices/times are only for the 2025 calendar year. UPDATE: Pricing/hours appear to be the same for the 2026 season. Please check the site for further updates and to book tickets.