Auckland's annual Lantern Festival has been postponed due to recent alert level shifts to Alert Level 3, then Alert Level 2.
The popular festival can only be held if the region returns to Alert Level 1.
This has led to organisers postponing the event to the 4th to 7th of March. Originally the festival was meant to run from February 25 to the 28th.
“The Auckland Lantern Festival is a much-loved event and a great celebration of our Chinese communities; I’m really pleased we’ve been able to find a way to make it happen this year,” Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says.
“Because it can only go ahead at Alert Level 1, we have delayed it by one week to allow more time for a return to that level.
“It’s a good reminder also that we all need to keep following the current Covid-19 health rules, to help ensure that we are able to move down to Level 1 sooner rather than later.
“Thank you to Auckland Unlimited and Ports of Auckland, as well as event and community stakeholders, for working together to enable the Lantern Festival to proceed.”
Ports of Auckland says it's committed to making Captain Cook and Marsden Wharves available for the new dates.
Organisers say the event will remain ticketed, with the free tickets booked online providing contact tracing as well as crowd and capacity management.
Tickets are currently on hold for the festival. Guidance to ticket holders will be communicated soon.
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