The Canberra Nara Candle Festival is an annual festival hosted in November in Canberra’s Nara Peace Park and Lennox Gardens.
The yearly Candle Festival is designed to celebrate the unique sister-city relationship between Canberra and Nara in Japan.
The Canberra Nara Candle Festival is held every year as a chance to celebrate the unique relationship between Canberra and Nara, Japan, as well as to promote worldwide peace.
The annual candle festival is held in Canberra’s tranquil Nara Peace Park on the edge of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra.
This year the event was held on Saturday 4th November 2023 4pm-9pm.
There was a wide variety of Japanese cultural experiences including lantern making, origami, the opportunity to learn about different visitor regions and attractions in Japan, calligraphy, traditional costumes, Japanese food and drinks, and more.
The free family-friendly event is set in the tranquil Canberra Nara Peace Park on the edge of Lake Burley Griffin.
This picturesque park is a very pretty place to walk around on any day of the year.
During the Canberra Nara Candle Festival around 2000 lanterns are lit up around the park.
There are a wide range of cultural displays and activities with free activities for children like lantern making, origami, dressing up in traditional Japanese costumes and more.
During the event there are a number of live displays including cosplay characters, martial arts, music and more.
I think the part we enjoyed most as a family was learning more about Japan and all of the family-friendly activities like origami, making lanterns and dressing up for a photo.
We also enjoyed seeing our names being handwritten in calligraphy.
The Canberra Nara Candle Festival is in a very picturesque and tranquil setting by the light.
As the sun sets, the candles appear brighter and the pretty lights in the trees, combined with beautiful Japanese music, makes the whole atmosphere very peaceful.
We also enjoyed the opportunity to ring the Canberra Peace Bell and reflect on how we would all like to see world peace especially at this turbulent time.