LunarFest is a festival celebrating the Lunar New Year in Vancouver. Part of LunarFest is The Lantern City which features lantern-themed art installations.
In 2025 LunarFest ran from January 27th to February 22nd. Celebrating the Year of the Snake, its theme this year was “Fluidity in Diversity.” There are activities around downtown Vancouver as well as on Granville Island. The Lantern City art installations, meanwhile, can be seen at five locations throughout most of the festival.
With slightly different starting and finishing dates, special lantern art exhibits were at Granville Island, outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Bentall Centre, Robson Plaza, and at the Pendulum Gallery between January 27th and February 21st in 2025.
See our article about LunarFest or visit the LunarFest Vancouver website to learn more about the festival. Continue reading or visit thelanterncity.ca to learn about The Lantern City.
The Lantern City at Lunar New Year in Vancouver
In 2025 The Lantern City art installations were at five different venues in the City of Vancouver. You could see lanterns in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery until February 18th. There was another installation at Ocean Artworks Pavilion on Granville Island until February 17th. The third art installation was at the Pendulum Gallery until February 22nd. There was also a display at Robson Plaza between January 29th and February 18th. Another exhibition was at the Bentall Centre from January 29th to February 20th.
The lantern art displays outside the Vancouver Art Gallery were in šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square at 750 Hornby Street. Their theme in 2025 was “Hundred Pace Snake.”
On Granville Island the art installation was at the Ocean Artworks Pavilion. The venue’s address is 1531 Johnston Street which is just a block or so from the Granville Island Public Market. The theme for the art there this year was “Forever Young.” The displays at the Bentall Centre at 505 Burrard Street were “Coastal Lunar Lanterns.” Meanwhile, Robson Plaza at 800 Robson Street is where you could find the “We Are Family” exhibition.
Unlike the other lantern art installations in 2025, the displays at the Pendulum Gallery were indoors. The venue is in the HSBC Building at 885 West Georgia Street, so just across the street from the Vancouver Art Gallery. The exhibition featured the works of a Taiwanese comic artist.
Click The Lantern City for the event’s official website.
Other Activities at The Lantern City Venues
LunarFest is related to The Lantern City and it has its own series of events.
In addition to the art displays, there are free LunarFest celebrations at many of the same venues throughout the run of The Lantern City. Activities include artist talks, various workshops, an artists market and more.
Visit thelanterncity.ca or lunarfestvancouver.ca for the events’ official websites.
Other Information
Visit the lunarfestvancouver.ca and thelanterncity.ca websites to learn more about LunarFest and The Lantern City.
See our article about the Lunar New Year in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver’s January and February calendars of events to learn about other events taking place at the same time of the year.
Other articles that might be of interest include the following:
- Free January Events in Vancouver
- LunarFest Vancouver
- Chinatown Spring Festival Parade
- Dine Out Vancouver Festival
LunarFest and The Lantern City are put on by the same people behind TaiwanFest on the Labour Day Weekend in September. It too is a very interesting cultural event.
