By MAMI OKADA/ Staff Writer
February 8, 2024 at 18:32 JST
Illuminations are turned on at Minato Park in Nagasaki on Feb. 7 in a rehearsal of the Nagasaki Lantern Festival. (Kengo Hiyoshi)
NAGASAKI--For the first time in four years, the warm glow of an iconic winter celebration will finally fully return to the streets here, featuring 15,000 colorful lanterns.
Two days prior to the official opening of the Nagasaki Lantern Festival, thousands of lamps were turned on at a rehearsal on Feb. 7, illuminating Chinatown, the "spectacles-shaped" Meganebashi bridge and other tourist attractions across the city.
At the main venue of Minato Park, spectators marveled at a 10-meter-tall illuminated sculpture depicting carp jumping over waves and transforming into a dragon.
The towering sculpture is one of the main attractions this year, the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac.
Held annually since 1994, the festival celebrates the Lunar New Year in the city renowned for its traditional Chinatown.
Along with the illumination, the event also features historical parades and performances of traditional dance and music.
The festival was canceled in 2021 and the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before being revived on a smaller scale in 2023.
This year, the event will run through Feb. 25.
With two three-day holiday weekends during the festival period and a parade on Feb. 17 featuring famed actor and city native Masaharu Fukuyama, organizers hope to attract a record-breaking 1.36 million visitors.
On Feb. 10, the Chinese New Year day, lighting-up ceremonies will be held at the Minato Park and Chuo Park venues starting at 5:30 p.m.
From 5 p.m. on New Year's Eve, the first 1,000 visitors at each of the two venues will receive a free lantern.
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