PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Artisans from China have been hard at work for about a month creating and assembling handmade silk sculptures for the Sixth Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival taking place next week in Franklin Square.
Using heavy machinery in the park, near 6th and Race streets, on Monday, a 15-person crew placed the head on a giant dragon-shaped lantern. With vibrantly colored silk stretched over its 200 foot, 6,000 pound steel frame, the addition of the smoke-breathing creature’s head made the structure 21 feet tall.
“You're seeing his final touch, his head going on to his body,” said Amy Needle, president and CEO of Historic Philadelphia, the nonprofit that manages and operates Franklin Square.
“He is three school buses. I think he is pretty magnificent this year.”
Does he have a name?
“He does not have a name, but he is sort of the icon for our festival. We have had a dragon every year that we have done the festival.”
It's the Year of the Dragon, said Needle. “So we went all out on dragons.”
“We are still counting how many dragons you will find here at Franklin Square.”
In addition to the dragon, an array of 1,200 individual never-before-seen creations are being finished up by artisans, including larger-than-life flowers, birds and pandas at play. The lanterns will be illuminated with hundreds of LEDs and arranged into 40 displays situated throughout the 7.5-acre park.
There will be food, drink and cultural performances from entertainers from China. And, as in years past, there is a scavenger hunt for daytime visitors, when the park is free and open to the public, says Needle. “But then, in the evening, the park closes every day at 5 o’clock. Beginning at 6, it’s a ticket event, and it is amazing to be here in the evening.”
The Chinese Lantern Festival will be open to the public June 20 – Aug. 18. Admission requires a ticket daily between the hours of 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.