One of the brightest and ongoing festivals in the city will keep you warm at Citi Field this winter.
The city’s inaugural Hello Panda Festival touches down in the “World’s Borough” this weekend, sticking around throughout January of next year.
More than 120 massively illuminated and handcrafted lanterns will be on display, and guests will get to enjoy great food provided by 30 magnificent vendors at the festival organized by CPAA North America and The World’s Fare.
The displays feature more than 300,000 brightly colored LED lights and several interactive elements. Visitors can explore six different lantern theme parks, each of which deliver distinct, immersive experiences.
The never-before-seen exhibits will be spread throughout the festival grounds: Dream World, Holiday Wonderland, Discovery Zone, Interactive Music Zoe, Sports World and Community Interactive Zone.
Display highlights include the world’s tallest Christmas tree lantern, life-sized dinosaurs and safari animals, a huge fairytale castle and a 98-foot-long light tunnel.
“Hello Panda’s mission is to bring the epic scope and scale of China’s best and brightest lantern festivals to North America,” said Winston Wang, general manager of CPAA North America. “We want to transport visitors into a magical world filled with sights and sounds they’ve never experienced or even imagined.”
The World Fare, which has delighted tens of thousands of visitors to Citi Field the past two springs, is not just providing great food vendors, but also live performances, modern art exhibits, a holiday market and traditional crafts across six giant heated tent areas.
This is the first time that Hello Panda will be coming to New York City, a feat that brings pride to the organizers.
“We are thrilled to be a part of The Hello Panda Festival, which is No. 1 winter destination in Queens and throughout New York City,” said Elizabeth Aloni, president of The World’s Fare. The World’s Fare has a fantastic lineup of the best international food vendors from bao to baked goods plus a full bar serving seasonal cocktails, beer and wine.
So of course, the most delicious parts of Hello Panda will be handled by many of the city’s well-known food vendors: Bolivian Llama Party, Brooklyn Dumpling, C-Bao Ca’Pisci, Cambodia Now, Chef Jimmy Creole Vicious Cycle, Chori & Chimi, Dilena’s Dolcini, Don Ceviche, Dough Donuts, Down East Lobstah, Empanada Papa, Four The Hard Way Jianbing Company and Joey Bats Café.
Also, Knot Of This World, La Braza NYC, Made From Scratch, NYC Mac Truck, Pete’s Hot Cider & Tea, Pickle Me Pete, Shaking Crab, Snow Show Flushing, Spoonable Spirits, T-Swirl Crepes, The Wasted Baker, ToastieLand, What’s The Dillaz, Wings Lovers and Zonarica Churros will be cooking up during the festival.
Meanwhile, some of those cultural points that the World’s Fare President Joshua Schneps referenced will done by the way of nightly music from local and international acts from different genres including dance, Latin, pop and hip-hop, along with festive artwork.
Hello Panda is open seven days a week from 5 to 10 p.m., Dec. 6 to Jan. 26, 2020. CPAA also plans to produce the even in Vernon, New Jersey, from Oct. 18 to Feb. 2, 2020, and at the World Vacation Hotel from Oct. 25 to March 22, 2020, according to the organizers.
Ticket prices range from $22 to $28 minus tax and service fees. For more information, visit www.hellopandafest.com or follow @hellopandafest on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook.
