2018 Sunshine Lantern Festival
2018 Sunshine Lantern Festival
The Sunshine Lantern Festival is a free community event that took place on Sunday 23rd September 2018 from 10am to 8pm in the busy Sunshine shopping precinct along Hampshire Road, Sunshine. It . It was a full day of family fun, entertainment, rides, street performers, music, food of many nations, magical Lion and Dragon dancing, a Lantern Parade to celebrate the full moon and ending with spectacular fireworks at 7.30pm to 7.45pm.
Crowds of up to 55,000 people came to enjoy the vibrant multicultural festivities and support the local businesses of Sunshine. The Sunshine Lantern Festival is a popular traditional event celebrated in Vietnam and many other South-East Asian communities and here in Sunshine it brings our culturally diverse community together in a safe and fun environment while supporting our local businesses. From humble beginnings in 2009, it is now one of the biggest one-day community festivals in the west and the largest Lantern Festival in Victoria.
This year the bustling Hampshire Road, between Devonshire Road and Foundry Road will be closed to all traffic and will come alive with roving street performers, live entertainment, children’s rides, jumping castles, pony rides, street food, face-painting, circus activities, sporting fun, lantern making and more. Look out for the Water Drops stiltwalkers, The Great Gizmo, The Luna Moonies and TV personality Chris Humfrey with a Wild Action kids stage show with Australian native animals; kids can actually touch. There will be cultural kids activities including Asian origami, Vietnamese lantern making and Aboriginal craft. A large performance stage and seating area will burst with multicultural live entertainment such as Aboriginal artist Mick Tambo who will give us a unique Indigenous experience, One Spirt Africa with a drumming and dance performance to the Vietnamese cultural Legend of the Moon performance featuring International Vietnamese Artist - Y Thanh.
Later in the day a vibrant and energetic Lion and Dragon dance complete with long string fireworks took place along the Hampshire Road shopfronts leading a parade of children and their following families. The parade was filled with light from 1,000’s of led battery powered animal shaped lanterns given to children earlier and always ending with an exciting display of Fireworks.
The Sunshine Lantern Parade is a free cultural community event staged and presented by the Sunshine Business Association, supported by Brimbank City Council and Multicultural Victoria.
Located at the front of Sunshine Marketplace, ‘HAMPSHIRE SQUARE’ is a new VIP food space that offered visitors Vietnamese food from VN Wrap n Roll, Oldman Pho, Che Dessert & a sustainable gift from MOC all for only $20. This space supported our ongoing Sustainable Sunshine campaign using all sustainable containers and utensils. Open from 1.30pm to 5pm.
The 2018 Sunshine Lantern Festival was on Sunday 23rd September from 10am to 8pm
Looking to be a Stall Holder?
Looking to be a Stall Holder? The 2018 Sunshine Lantern Festival Committee invites Corporate, Food and Goods Stallholders to participate by filling in the Contact Us form.
If you are a community group wanting a stall, a street or stage performer wanting to participate please contact us.