Final 12 months, Zoo Atlanta lit up the winter season in spectacular style with the first-ever “IllumiNights: A Chinese language Lantern Competition.” Artists created lovely, larger-than-life gentle sculptures from the HanArt Tradition manufacturing firm. The pageant is open to the general public once more and runs by way of Jan. 18. “Metropolis Lights” host Lois Reitzes was joined by way of Zoom by Jennifer Smith, Zoo Atlanta’s vice chairman of strategic partnerships and initiatives, to speak extra about this season’s beautiful gentle show. 

“We checked out quite a lot of totally different alternatives to activate the zoo in a means that it had by no means been activated earlier than, and I feel that bringing a Chinese language lantern pageant to Zoo Atlanta is a superb alternative that aligns with our mission of showcasing and defending biodiversity,” stated Smith. It’s not your typical, conventional holiday-themed lights stroll; the lit-up sculptures on show characterize a beautiful, glowing menagerie of numerous species of vegetation, animals and fungi, a lot of which have their real-life counterparts residing within the zoo.

With many constructed on-site from textiles stretched over metalwork skeletons, the lantern creatures showcase extraordinary ability by masterful crafters from the HanArt Tradition collective. “The artisans that have been a part of the HanArt crew began by shaping a few of the metallic proper on website, sort of welding the construction collectively, after which the ornaments have been coated with silk. They have been designs which can be reduce out of the ornaments, after which some ornamental cloth is placed on. So it was actually fascinating to see the method from begin to end.”

Lantern marvels on show embody a python wrapping round a tree department, flowers that open and shut, a cheetah peering from its perch in a tree, and two spectacular, towering dragons close to the zoo’s entrance. “It’s fairly spectacular; the 2 dragons that now we have are going through one another, and … I might say the tallest level is about 12 toes tall, is my guess, and their heads transfer so they really rotate and have a look at one another,” Smith defined. “Not solely do you get the attractive vista, you see all of the airbrushing and the portray that was performed.” Smith admitted her favourite sculptures on show are a powerful phoenix (a legendary hen of concord and rebirth) and a large, 14-foot-tall large panda that presides over Zoo Atlanta’s actual panda habitat.

Zoo guests ought to stay up for a unique zoo expertise than they could have had earlier than; most real-life animals gained’t be out and about through the after-dark hours of the lantern pageant. The animals usually retreat within the night hours, and Zoo Atlanta prioritizes their security and luxury whereas human guests benefit from the dazzling spectacle of their handcrafted counterparts. 

Tickets and extra details about IllumiNights Chinese language Lantern Competition at Zoo Atlanta can be found at zooatlanta.org/occasion/illuminights.