Chinese lantern festival will not return to popular Malaga park ...

Wednesday, 12 February 2025, 14:49

The Chinese lantern festival will no longer be held in the Parque del Oeste in Malaga city. According to municipal sources, the organisers of the festival, Ximénez Iluminación and Lantern Group, have decided not extend the contract of the event based on the popular Chinese New Year celebration, which is still taking place in the Carretera de Cádiz area. The promoters have cited not enough attendance and revenue as the reason.

While the exclusive event was meant to place Malaga a little bit higher on a global stage, it has not been as successful as expected. The city council has also recorded numerous complaints and protests from residents that live in the area, some even before the inauguration of the festival, which started on 30 November 2024 and finishes on 15 February. The outcry was so strong that mayor Francisco de la Torre has said that there was not sufficient residential consensus for the installation.

Although the official announcement will not be made until the closure of the event, the decision seems to have been taken by both parties. However, the Cordoba company Ximénez Iluminación is looking ahead: "The lantern festival has not yet closed. We are in permanent communication with our Chinese partner Lantern Group and will assess it when the time is right," they stated.

The lantern festival was touted as an exclusive event that was going to promote Malaga on a global level. High expectations were further endorsed by the president of the regional government, Juanma Moreno, during his visit to China. The intention was to provide a knock-on effect for the area and attract visitors from all over Andalucía; however, local residents rejected the idea from the start, because the private festival occupied almost half of the space of the public park.

Since the inauguration of the event the city hall defended the project, assuring locals that the rest of the park would remain open and that the residents of Malaga could go for a walk or a run. However, in the end the pressure from the public has been stronger than the municipal resistance.