LANTERNS FESTIVAL AT WILDWOOD PARK

Lanterns will return in April 2024!

20919 Denny Road, Little Rock, AR

TICKETS

What Is Lanterns?

A man and two boys place lanterns on Swan Lake

Lanterns 2019 United Kingdom

Chinese martial arts demonstration

Lanterns 2019 China

A boy gazes into a glowing lantern

Lanterns 2019 Wildwood Park

A man and two boys place lanterns on Swan Lake

Lanterns 2019 United Kingdom

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Lanterns is west Little Rock's most popular outdoor festival! Each year, we celebrate the food, music, crafts, and performing arts of a new combination of world cultures and one US city. Come explore the beautiful outdoor lights along our woodland trails! You can even light your own lantern and float it onto our lake for good luck!

Lanterns is also the major annual fundraising event for Wildwood Park for the Arts.

Your ticket and concessions purchases help us

Preserve the natural beauty of our trails and gardens
Provide nature, arts, and music education classes to children and adults
Bring you more concerts, stage shows, and community festivals
Keep the park free to the public year-round

Your evening of entertainment preserves our 105 acres of green space in west Little Rock and nurtures the next generation of artists in Arkansas!

Featured Cultures for Lanterns 2023

What to Do at Lanterns 2023

Hours

Fri., Apr. 21: 6 pm - 10 pm

Sat., Apr. 22: 4 pm - 10 pm

Sun., Apr. 23: 5:30 - 9 pm

There's something for everyone to enjoy at Lanterns!

Below are the top 6 activities for you to experience this year.

For more tips, check out our Planning Your Visit page!

1. Explore our woodland trails lined with beautiful lights!

Enjoy an evening walk at sunset along the banks of Swan Lake. The woods have a peaceful, almost magical quality at night. Cross through the grassy area around our Jamaica vista to reach the trails! (see map)

Free with admission to Lanterns.

2. Buy a floating lantern to light and launch on Swan Lake!

Floating lanterns are a symbol of good luck in many world cultures. For just $3, you can launch your own lantern at our Butler Gazebo in Scotland and make a wish for good fortune!

This activity requires WildBucks.

3. Sample food and beverages from six different world cultures!

Each of our cultural vistas has different entrees, side items, desserts, and drinks for you to try -- and the Fairytale Forest has traditional favorites the kids will love. Discover everything that will be served on our Food and Drink Menus page!

This activity requires WildBucks.

4. See entertaining performances at our

Las Vegas stage show!

Las Vegas is the capital of high energy entertainment, and our stage show showcases talented Arkansas singers, dancers, magicians, circus artists, and more! See them perform nightly in our theatre auditorium at 7 pm, 8 pm, and 9 pm!

Free with admission to Lanterns.

5. Try your luck in our Las Vegas charity casino!

The thrill of the games awaits you in our charity casino and bar! Bet WildBucks on roulette, black jack, or craps -- then cash in your winnings for chances to claim one of the evening's grand prizes! When you win at Lanterns, so do our nature and arts education programs!

This activity requires WildBucks.

6. Let your kids' imaginations run wild in the Fairytale Forest!

We have a brand new area just for children featuring storytelling from a variety of world cultures! Kids can take fun photos, express themselves with crafts and face painting, and get their passports for a Lanterns scavenger hunt!

Free with admission to Lanterns.

How to Get to Lanterns 2023

Lanterns is held every spring at Wildwood Park for the Arts, located at 20919 Denny Road in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Some limited parking for the festival is available across the street from the park's entrance gates. This area will fill quickly!

We strongly recommend that you park for free at The Promenade at Chenal shopping center just five minutes from Wildwood and take our free parking shuttle to get to the front gates. Shuttles are scheduled to arrive at The Promenade every 15-20 minutes, and they will also pick you up at Wildwood's front gates to take you back to your car.

Many (but not all) of our cultural sites (called "vistas") are accessible to people with mobility issues. For more details on accommodations available to our guests, please see the section on Planning Your Visit.