Chinese Lantern Festival returns to Bunbury in January to celebrate pioneers of Chinese culture in the city

The Bunbury Chinese Lantern Festival is returning in January to celebrate Chinese culture. The festival began in 2017 as a celebration of Chinese New Year but now focuses on community harmony. Event organiser Amanda Yip said the date of the festival varied each year, moving in line with the moon cycle. The festival was inspired by the legacy of Wally and Marianne Yip — who opened the first Chinese restaurant in Bunbury in 1967. “They are my parents and they met at a party in Bondi Beach,” Ms Yip said. “Wally already worked as a chef in a Chinese restaurant with his business partner. “Upon arriving in Perth someone suggested they take a look at Bunbury.” Ms Yip said the event aimed to provoke a sense of relaxation encouraging families “to remember how to have a picnic and sit and play together”. “We have purposely made it without food trucks and just a bit of local entertainment,” she said. This year’s festival will feature a lantern walk of more than 600 community decorated lanterns, an interactive snakes and ladders game — fitting to welcome 2025 as the year of the snake — and an Asian-inspired sausage sizzle. “Each year when the sun sets and the lanterns start to glow, you can see people’s faces come alive with wonder,” Ms Yip said. “This is the most special moment for me.” The two-day free festival is held at Bunbury’s International Friendship Garden on Cobblestone Drive on January 17 and 18 from 6pm.