The 2026 Guangzhou Spring Festival Lantern Show officially kicks off on Jan 30, bringing vibes to the southern metropolis. [Photo by Parker Zhen/for chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2026 Guangzhou Spring Festival Lantern Show kicked off on Jan 30, bringing vibes to the southern metropolis, known as a "millennium commercial capital".

Themed "Cantonese Rhythm Millennia · One Heart Across the Four Seas", the lantern show, which is simultaneously taking place at Yuexiu Park and seven branch venues in the city, is expected to become a new tourist attraction, drawing many visitors from home and abroad during the Chinese New Year period beginning on Feb 17, according to a statement released by the city government on Jan30.

The main venue Yuexiu Park features a total of 85 groups of distinctive lanterns, integrating intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship with modern technology. It will present a light feast for local residents and tourists spanning the entire Spring Festival, the statement said.

Meanwhile, more than 1,200 rich and colorful cultural activities will be held in the park, vividly interpreting Guangzhou's urban character of "integration of ancient and modern, openness and inclusiveness, and upholding integrity and innovation" through all-day, processional and immersive experiences.

The 2026 Guangzhou Spring Festival Lantern Show officially kicks off on Jan 30, bringing vibes to the southern metropolis. [Photo by Parker Zhen/for chinadaily.com.cn]

With light and shadow as the medium, organizers of the lantern show have tried to create a cultural event that showcases Guangzhou's historical heritage, urban vitality and open mind, jointly building a festive atmosphere of "lantern viewing across the city" and conveying China's cultural confidence and contemporary elegance to the world, the statement added.

To celebrate what will, according to Chinese calendar, be the Year of Horse, the key large-scale lantern set of the show is "Galloping Horses".

This sits on the lake with nine steed figures as the main part, reaching a maximum height of 16.88 meters, to represent the Year of Horse. Each horse boasts a distinctive posture—some holding their heads high to the sky, some galloping over waves—with tremendous momentum.

The design inspiration embodies the core spirit of loyalty, courage, perseverance and integrity from the modern "Stele of the Festival Horse", vividly reflecting Guangzhou's steady and vigorous development in the new era, said the statement. It also highlights its high-spirited stance as a pacesetter in reform and opening-up that always leads the trend.

The lantern show will continue till March 8.