The Lantern Festival
This week we visited the local John Ball Park Zoo for a special themed attraction called the Lantern Festival. It’s an annual event whereby the park is transformed into a mile long pathway filled with thousands of colorful and clever Asian lanterns. These amazing displays come in all sizes – small, medium, large and gigantic.
It’s a great venue for photographers such as myself and I had an easy time of selecting subjects to shoot. For this article, I’ll stick to a few pictures that illustrate the festival’s Asian origin.
Most of you are at least slightly familiar with the zodiac animals that you might see on the menu or placemat at a Chinese restaurant. These have special meaning to those who follow this cultural norm.
The zodiac consist of twelve animals that represent a particular lunar year. Each animal has certain characteristics and a person born in a given year takes on the personality of the animal.
I was born in the year of the ox. Supposedly my personality is “diligent, dependable, strong, determined”. I’ll let others decide if these adjectives describe my personality.Here are the lanterns that illustrate the Chinese zodiac.
1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020
Quick-witted, resourceful, versatile, kind
1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021
Diligent, dependable, strong, determined
1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022
Brave, confident, competitive
1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2012
Quiet, elegant, kind, responsible
1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988.2000, 2012, 2024
Confident, intelligent, enthusiastic
1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025
Enigmatic, intelligent, wise
1930,1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026
Animated, active, energetic
1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027
Calm, gentle, sympathetic
1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028
Sharp, smart, curious
1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029
Observant, hardworking, courageous
1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030
Lovely, honest, prudent
1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031
Compassionate, generous, diligent
I took many more pictures than I’ve shown you here. As time permits, I’ll have another article that shows you many more amazing and clever lanterns from the festival.
We enjoyed this year’s Lantern Festival and the clever presentations of the Chinese zodiac animals.
Does your personality match the animal of your birth year?
Written by:
Arnie Lee
Reference: Personality traits from Creative Arts Guild