LIGHTUP Festival – Lanterns in the Year of the Rooster

On January 28, the Year of the Rooster begins. The Chinese zodiac assigns animal signs based on a 12-year cycle, and our last year of the Rooster was in 2005. Marked by Hurricane Katrina, the Kyoto Protocol, and the creation of YouTube, it’s almost a sure bet that this Rooster cycle will be comparably eventful to the last one.

In order to properly celebrate and ring in this new year, the inaugural LIGHTUP Lantern Festival is coming to Chapel Hill. A community project celebrating diversity in the Chapel Hill community while supporting arts and education, LIGHTUP is the embodiment of the hope that culture can be shared and communities can come together.

LIGHTUP is being held at University Place, on January 28 from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM. More than 40 hands-on activities and exhibits will be available as University Place is transformed into festival streets resembling those you would find at an authentic Chinese celebration.

The idea for LIGHTUP originated from Mayor Pam Hemminger and town councilor Jessica Anderson. Chapel Hill has around 3,000 residents of Chinese descent, around five percent of its total population, and organization of a large-scale celebration centered on education and experience just as much as festivities for the New Year emerged as a way to further connect all members of the Chapel Hill community.

By combining elements of Chinese New Year celebrations and the Chinese Lantern Festival – which takes place two weeks after as the conclusion of the New Year’s festivities, LIGHTUP will be creating a communal art project tied to everyone that takes part. Visitors can purchase and decorate their very own lanterns with the guidance of a professional artist, and march in the closing parade with their creation at the close of the event. This spectacle will be the first community art performance of its kind in the area, providing illumination and a sense of community that is meant to foster peace and happiness in the year to come.

Hosted by the Chinese School at Chapel Hill, the festival is volunteer-organized and will feature foods provided by local restaurants, arts and activities of all kinds and for all ages, and sprawling space enough to accommodate expected attendees, which may number into the thousands.

Support, both financial and otherwise, has been plentiful from local sources. The Orange County / Chapel Hill Tourist Bureau, the Confucius Institute at NC State, Duke Energy, the Orange County Arts Commission, the Town of Chapel Hill, Grandwell LED LCD Display Solutions, WCHL, RTP Pediatric Dentistry, Hibachi China Buffet, NC Subway Inc., Li Ming’s Global Market, Keith Taylor DDS Family Dentist, Grand Asia Market, CAFA, H Mart, the Fafalist, FRANK Gallery, RedApple Learning Campus, the Mandarin Dual Language Program at Glenwood Elementary, Kidzu Children’s Museum, the Chapel Hill Library, UNC and Duke Chinese Students and Scholars Associations, the Cary Chinese School, the Chapel Hill Chinese Language & Culture School, and local Chinese arts and performance clubs and associations.