Lee and Karen Duquette drove to The North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival in Cary, North Carolina 4 times:
January 3, 2022, November 21, 2023, December 5, 2024 and again on December 3, 2025. Each time the event was quite different, so of course, so are the photos. Lee Duquette liked this 2025 visit best (with the future events unknown at this time, of course). Photos from each event are quite different and if you have not already seen the combination of 2022 through 2024 pages, you may go there now. There will be a link at the bottom of that last page to take you here.

THIS SITE IS A MIXTURE OF DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME PHOTOS

Below: THE LANTERN TUNNEL, known as the Light Corridor. As usual, this entry area was lined with lots of Chinese Lanterns, which are different each year. These are the 2025 lanterns. Hundreds of lanterns of all shapes made for an incredible, colorful adventure to walk through, photograph and enjoy.

Below: Lee and Karen Duquette walked through the food court area in 2025, and took two photos of the lights on the ceiling.

Below: Then Lee and Karen Duquette went down a few stairs down into the Interactive Playground area. The trees in the background, kept changing colors, as do the swings. (More of those trees will be shown further on)

Below: Karen Duquette on a swing in 2025. Karen was on the same swing in each of the photos shown below as the swing kept changing colors.

Below: Karen Duquette loved the Children's Play Area, which she enjoys every year. She has no choice but to get older, but she does not have to stop having childish fun.

Below: Lee Duquette stood in the ring area which changed colors and caused the Smoke Cannon to shoot out harmless fog for a playful, moody environment.

Below: Right beside the cannon, snow bubbles shot out into the air. When the bubbles were touched, they disintegrated.

Below: The Plant Music Box - Lee Duquette let his voice make magical sound effects. (It was better than his singing)

Below: Time for Lee and Karen Duquette to enter another area to enjoy the magic.

Below: Blowing into the round circle (shown in the photo below), made the Windmills shown in the above photo twirl as they changed colors. But it was NOT easy.

Below: Then it was time for Lee Duquette to step on the interactive playground set of squares that lit up in different colors when stepped on. Karen Duquette also enjoyed this area, but no photos were taken of her at this spot.

Notice the above Activation Blower plus Mythical Beast Dang Kang in the background of the photo below. Close-up photos of Mystical Beast Dang Kang are also below.

Mythical Beast Dang Kang (photos taken at night time)

Below: The Mirror Maze

Below: Lee and Karen Duquette did not think the show was anywhere near as good nor interesting as in previous years, so Karen only took a few photos.

Continue on to page 2 - Chinese Zodiac signs, The Golden Snake, United Hearts Unstopable Hope Arch, some wings, a Panda Gate,