3,000 Chinese lanterns to transform stately home into winter wonderland

[File Photo: Sino.uk]

A team of artists from China’s “Lantern Town” will light up the English countryside in November as Wiltshire estate and safari park Longleat opens its Festival of Light.

Fire dragons, fairytale scenes and a life-sized floating galleon are among the illuminating attractions that visitors will be able to see in the grounds of the 16th century stately home.

Artists from the city of Zigong in China’s Sichuan Province, which hosts a famous lantern festival every Chinese New Year, designed and built the displays.

They used 30,000 meters of silk to make the lanterns, including a 25.5-meter-tall Rapunzel tower, the largest lantern ever made for the event. Longleat first hosted the Lantern Festival in 2014, with this year’s event the biggest so far.

The Festival of Light opens Fridays to Sundays from November 5 to 26 and daily from December 1 to January 3 (excluding Christmas Day).