Lantern Festival

In Chiswick, for Chinese New Year 2017, the gardens were transformed into a multicultural light experience, with huge detailed lanterns made from wire and fabric.

It almost feels inadequate to call them lanterns... a more accurate description would be works of 3D fabric art lit from within.

We got there slightly before dark but the effect really came into its own once we had wiled away our time in the cafe at the start of the trail and night had fallen.

The journey started with a lit arch of flowers, and followed a winding path through the park, with each new wonder popping up to delight.

There were scenes from traditional tales, religious themes, cute characters, Chinese New Year characters and cultural scenes.

I hear a rumour it's been an annual event for the last three years. We had not heard of it before this year so, if you missed it (like we had previously), there'll be a guided tour over the next few blogs.