Bright idea for festive lantern show

LARGER-than-life lantern art will light up a Manchester park in the run-up to Christmas.

The Magical Lantern Festival will come to the city for the first time this winter, filling Philips Park in Clayton with glowing festive scenes including a gingerbread house, penguins on ice, an 8m-high Christmas tree, Santa and a snowman.

The lantern trail through the park will also feature a footballing scene celebrating the city’s love affair with the beautiful game, as well as a recreation of Beijing’s Temple of Heaven.

Children can also visit Santa in his grotto and have a go on fairground rides, while grown-ups can duck into a tipi bar to warm up with mulled wine and food from Christmas market stalls.

Inspired by the 2,000-year-old Chinese Lantern Festival tradition, the event was first launched in London by Weli Creative, an events organisation that co-ordinates cultural exchange projects between China and the West.

The event runs from November 24 to January 1 (closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day). Tickets go on sale on Thursday September 14 from 10am, priced from £8 for children and £12 for adults, from magicallantern.uk. Additional charges apply for grotto visits.