Hello Panda Festival runs from Dec 6, 2019 - Jan 26, 2020 daily form 5PM -10PM. Was interested to see what they came up with since it was being promoted as the largest lantern festival in North America...However, I beg to differ. It was not that big, a lot of open space and was freezing outside. Would recommend getting discount tickets. Only took me 40 mins going around and taking pictures... and didn't understand some of their themes e.g. the squirrel robot was very weird! Butterfly wings and castle were nice. The bike wall should have had instructions - peddle fast to light up the wall (unless I missed it). Wasn't that busy or packed the day I went, but very, very cold. Overall, this lantern festival was ok... This event is in the parking lot of CitiField, not inside CitiField. Best to bring a real camera -- if you have a smartphone, better bring portable charger...iPhone batteries will drain very quickly as they cannot adapt to hot or cold weather. Bathrooms are porta-potties. If you want to warm up, go inside the dome tents for food (cash only and cheap) and other things for kids to do. Good to see it once and with a discount, not worth going again. read more

See all

Bye bye Panda Pandas in the wild may eat green leaves but this panda ate green 20 dollar bills right out of my wallet. And like pandas in the wild, it had an insatiable appetite. **Update** When the festival first opened, it was a lot of fun! The ticket price was discounted. Since then, the holiday spirit has clearly departed. Instead, it's been replaced by crowds and an overpriced venue. Yes - you have to pay for the food plus the ticket, parking (if you have a car), the ball room, souvenirs, and basically anything there. If you purchase a ticket on site, they even added a surcharge to credit card purchases. Remember to bring enough cash. The additional items add up quickly, and can easily reach 100$ for a family. That's a lot of green dollars - not leaves - for a Panda festival! read more

See all

First Ever festival here in Queens, NY at Citifield. It claims it is the world's largest lantern festival in North America. Over 120 displays with 10 million LED lights. It runs from 12/6/19 to 1/26/20. 5-10 pm daily. I got Groupon for $19.99 adult and $14.95 child. Kids 0-3 yrs old free. Door price is $31 adult, $28 child. Event took place at Citifield parking lot. It is an outdoor event but huge tents ( igloo looking ) were set up for food court, playground, music and vendors for jewelry,clothings and crafts etc. Alcohol served. Pro: - amazing light display! We had a great time. My son was especially impressed by the dinosaurs. - plenty of kids activities: ball pit ( $10), light up swing and seesaw, maze, light up interactive floor board etc. my kids had a great time. Con: - not very organized. My friend scanned Groupon and got in. I was stopped and told to stand on line at ticket booth to redeem tickets. Ticket booth was super slow. They had a little mini iPad as computer. Tickets were entered and printed out one by one. - giant ball pit. $10 for 30 min. - parking $25 per car. It's easily accessible by subway but we preferred to drive due to young kids and cold weather - expect overpriced food and merchandise. We got chicken finger and fries for $13. - Food Court was very crowded. We couldn't find a table. Long line for food vendors. Conclusion: It did end up a very pricy event after you add on parking and food etc. on top of the tickets. But the light was magnificent! Minus one star for not so well organized. May consider attending again next year if they return. Kids had an awesome time! read more

See all

So much fun and so pretty! I was on the fence on whether or not I wanted to spend 30 bucks on a ticket. Unfortunately I didn't get a Groupon. And I couldn't find any promo codes. Well, I would say it was definitely worth it, given how much it probably took to get this set up and maintaining. The entrance to the festival was really quite beautiful and moving carpet of lights as you exit were really the stars of the festival, in my opinion. Also, I'm not sure why they call it a lantern Festival. It's really more of a light festival but whatever. It was very cool and lots of photo opportunities. And the food was really really good! Considering other festivals have such crappy food, I was so happy to have some really top-notch food. I had the Bolivia Llama Party Fries with brisket! OMG. So so delicious. I also picked up some empanadas and the pork ones were divine. I just didn't have an appetite for more but there were plenty of options including dumplings, baos, churros and different cuisines. I think they did a really nice job with the food tent. I will mention that I came on Thursday night and it was unseasonably warm. That made a huge difference with my experience. Also the lines were not too bad. Where I think Hello Panda Festival fell short was missing out on some great retail opportunities. I was looking for some cute pandas but unfortunately there weren't a lot of Panda items that weren't schlocky. So hopefully next year they will do a little better and get some more higher end goods. People like to spend money and while the guy writing your name on a grain of rice was very impressive, it's not my thing. I did like cotton candy flower dude also. I so wanted to buy a cute Panda Festival t-shirt. Even still, I'm giving it five stars because it was so cool and fun. Great for kids of all ages and awesome food. read more

See all

Awesome festival! Went on a cold night but worth it. Our friend got the groupon tickets for 20 dollars each. This festival was in the citi field parking lot. Huge lantern sculptures were breathtaking. And they even had interactive ones like swings, seesaws and stationary bikes that if you road would light up a part of a wall. Only Port a potties by the way! Loved how they had a variety of scenes: dinos, jungle, finding nemo, castles, christmas, hanukkah, pandas, sports, nature and water and much more. I wish they had more activities in the tents. There was a VR exhibit you can pay for. But honestly didn't look that good. And the silent disco only had a couple of people in it. Also there were only a couple of food vendors. The busiest tent was the giant ball pit for kids. Which you had to pay for to go in. There was a stand selling candied tomatoes, strawberries and hawthorne berries. So interesting! And they were wrapped in edible sugar paper. 5 dollars a stick. Never had a hawthorne berry so I bought one stick. Delicious. Sweet and tart and not overally sugary surprisingly. It had a great crunch to it. And had sesame seeds on it! They cancel the festival in bad weather. Not sure how much longer it will last this January but if they have it again next year its totally worth it to check it out with the Groupon tickets! read more

See all

This event is magical especially for kids. Tips: 1) bundle up as it gets really cold at night for such an open space 2) bring cash - food and a lot of fun activities take cash only. There are 4 big dome-shaped tents: 1) one tent has food stalls; Tacos, dumplings, lobster roll, baos, bbq chicken wings, crepe, ice cream, bubble tea, beer etc. Lots of delicious choices averaging around $8-$10 per item. 2) one tent has a giant play ground filled with colorful balls where after kids go in, good luck getting them to leave. $10 for 30 mins. Surrounding the play area are vendors that sell knick knocks, hand-made items, sweets, caricature etc. 3) one tent has live performances and the last has art installation displays. There are many activities on top of the vast lantern/light display that makes it an event where anyone (especially kids) would have a blast. The furry animal ride is a must try! (Essentially a Moped in various animal shapes with lights and music). $5 for 5 mins. It was hilarious watching a kid "driving" into the fence and got stuck. This is another activity I wish you good luck getting kids to leave. Overall, Super fun event and we will definitely come back next year if there is another one! read more

See all

I have been to several other light shows before and I must say that this is the biggest of its kind. It serves as great entertainment with its numerous colorful illuminated light displays and several large tents. Can't believe how they managed to put up such a large scale event in such short period of time, I mean two weeks ago it was? still an empty parking lot when I pass by. Ticket purchasing was a good experience, they have a box office at the entrance with multiple windows. They have live DJ performance, a gaint ball pit, a large dance floor, food drink and so much more to enjoy'. The only con is that the tent that features artworks is a little dull. Overall, this is definitely a pleasant place to visit during the holiday season. read more

See all

I came here Dec 2019 around Christmas time by myself, almost everybody there were couples or families with children. I was the only one alone but I still had a ton of cool memories. Very beautiful and thrilling time, with great music. The colors are so vibrant and unique designs. It did not look simple/bland. Ton of different types of food inside the area but beware the lines are very very long and crowded. I remember I waited at least 40 minutes no exxageration for just one dish. There were food from all types of cuisine, Italian, Asian, Hispanic, American, etc. Thumbs up for me. read more

So much fun there! Giant light displays, Live music, and a lot of fun in kids playground. I have to say, this is the best event in NY winter holiday season. We had a very enjoyable experience. I definitely come back next year. read more

Hello Panda Festival - Festivals Near Me - Corona, New York

See all

First time coming to this festival we purchase a family pack for 4 for $100 which wasn't so bad it wasn't crowded and there was plenty to see all the displays were setup in the parking lot of Citi field bright lights of every color some exhibitions were interact able the kids enjoyed they had a live musicals how which was very nice and there is a food tent which had over 20 vendors prices ranged from $4 to $15 depending what you got overall we had a great time read more

See all

What a beautiful experience! This lantern festival was so cute, they had different outdoor and indoor sections. The creativity, the colors, the theme - it was an overall great experience. In the indoor areas, they had different tents, my favorite wine had a diverse number of vendors, from Latino to Asian, you had the opportunity to travel the world in snacks and meals! read more

See all

Although the parking lot at Citi Field is not one of the most magical settings for a lantern festival, my family and friends (especially kids) had a good time so will round up the overall experience to 4 stars. Not to mention, we got a killer deal. In summary: *$25 parking across the street. Spaces were kind of tight but easy to find *Tickets can be purchased online in advance but we bought on site and lines went quickly. Make sure you check social media for any offers. We happened to go on Labda Day and a few of us got in for free. Score! *There was a good number of lanterns. The biggest was probably the Princess Castle. You can even walk through it. Some of the dinosaurs moved and had sounds so that was cool for my nephew who loves dinosaurs *There are some interactive games, swings, etc *There was a corn maze like "dinosaur labyrinth" but did not see any dinosaurs there * There were a few tents where you could warm up a bit. One had a violinist but was pretty empty. No chairs. Just stand and watch *There was a tent with food Vendors. Many booths were closed and we went early evening on Thu 1/2 when it was not raining. So sad. We shared some food and everything was pretty good: Cambodian skewers, empanadas, quesadillas, etc *There is a tent with a ball pit. Very shallow but kids seem to enjoy it *I did not use the portable potties but my dad said they were pitch dark Unfortunately since I have been to other lantern festivals, it was not super impressive in comparison but everyone who went enjoyed it. Good family activity! read more

See all

My family and I enjoy the Festivities! The lighting display is absolutely fabulous. The entire display are lantern lighting and feature different animal I.e lion, giraffe and dinosaurs. It also have a children playground over there with ball pit even though you need to pay 10 dollar per child, still enjoyable. My family and I enjoy the festivities despite the ticket and parking price being pricy. The only thing I thought they neEded to work on a little better was the food vendors and the ridiculous lines it was insane and the food was cold I don't mind over paying for food but it has to be good, here it wasn't at all. I wouldn't go again. read more

See all

I came with my boyfriend and his parents. We were really excited to come but weren't really sure what to expect. To say the least, it was disappointing. Pros Short line to get in even though we arrived at 5:30pm. It was a bit crowded but it wasn't too bad. The light displays and animations were very well put together. Clearly, they put a lot of time and effort into creating this. No complaints whatsoever. There were plenty of port a potties but only one working sink. Food vendors were all local. There were American food, Spanish (empanadas), bubble tea, donuts, t-swirl crepes, ceviche, Cambodian, baos, Italian, and a cocktail bar. Prices were also decent and didn't have to fight anyone for a table (all standing). Cons Parking is difficult. It was also expensive to park in the lot, Trains weren't any better. The 7 train is horrendous no matter what time of day it is. The ball pit was cute but wow was there a long line (kids only). There were two interactive displays. One was a seesaw and a set of swings but long line. The other one was riding cars that looked like dinosaurs. Kids were just riding around in the parking lot, no boundaries, right by the exit where people were leaving. The only lanterns I saw was in the lantern maze.... I am giving this event 3 stars ultimately because it was a very poor representation of the Chinese culture. All the tents had little vendors with Chinese writing, Chinese ornaments, and that was really it. The only thing that was really cool was the candied strawberries. The entertainment was disgusting. Again, a grossly inaccurate representation of the Chinese culture and how we celebrate Chinese New Year. The music was uncensored (American racial slurs, profanity). Teenage girls scantly dressed and dancing way inappropriately for a family event. Don't waste your money. There is a way to represent Asian culture without degrading oneself and the culture. read more

The lanterns are truly breathtaking and everything looks so beautiful. Love all the interactive activities when I went they had live entertainment. Said to be the largest Lantern Festival in North America this is a must visit! Good for all ages. One advice I must give is dress warmly because it does get cold...they also have dimes that are very warm if you wish to take a break. Overall, I high recommend this lovely experience and will definitely be going again! Can't wait! read more

See all

This was a really amazing experience, never could I have imagined it would be something as cool as hello panda festival at Queens. So many good food options!!!!!! Highly recommended!!!!!! read more

Hello Panda Festival - Festivals Near Me - Corona, New York

Good event for all ages as the outdoor lantern exhibits were great to see and take photos of, a heated tent for enjoying performances/DJ where you can also buy drinks to dance the night away, a heated tent of all kinds of food and drinks (very delicious, tried various seafood from shaking crab, empanadas, sweet chipotle pickles, and a very big donut), a heated tent with a large ball pit which my 3 year old daughter had fun with, and many more to see and do. During this time gets very cold so we were all bundled up and may even be better to get to the festival a little later in the evening as the line was very long when we arrived around 5:00pm. read more

See all

Great family fun but lost a star for having poor choices for food and overpriced activities outside cost of admission. A cotton candy is worth the same price as paying for parking for goodness sake: $25. read more

See all

Anyone know how I can get a refund? Literally the most disappointing family experience I have had in Queens. And I've visited the farm in the pouring rain with a class of first graders. Half the lights were out and it claims to be "The Largest Lantern festival in North America!". Ummm!?!? Figured we could at least get some good food to salvage the night.... NOPE! The food tent had no ventilation so it was a smoky, stinky, dirty looking nightmare where more than half the food vendors seemed to have abandoned the enterprise entirely. Save your money and don't go. read more

Hello Panda Festival - depressing unlit tunnel - Festivals Near Me - Corona, New York

It's important to remember that this is the FIRST annual Hello Panda Festival. There will be more to come, and they will likely get better in time, learning from their mistakes. With that in mind, I will critique the fact that each light installation was spaced like 60 feet apart, with parking spaces visible... (It's in a parking lot). Things were pretty, but untouchable. I guess it's good if you bring your family or children. I came with one friend and we were here 20 minutes before being disenchanted. Restrooms were wildly messy porter potties. I think I was expecting something akin to a Japanese cherry blossom festival, where there are hordes of people, some dressed traditionally, and rows of food stalls with meat on a stick, fireworks booming in the background, and children lighting rice-paper lanterns. I have no clue why I had that authentic ideal. Anyways, the ending of my time here was fun because we were invited into a televised Chinese American awards show. (Very clearly, not the usual experience. My friend and I sat at the private event/awards show housed in a dome on-site, with paparazzi and alcohol vendors and glittering girls dancing provocatively on stage. Fun) read more

excellent place to visit. great lightening and amazing for taking photos with. Very good food options and shopping. Definitely should visit with family. read more

A somewhat overpriced family-focused event of creative and decorative lighted scenes, set up in the Citi Field parking lot. While this show looks amazing from riding past it on the 7 train, in person it is underwhelming. You can't escape the fact that you are in a large parking lot, and this removes some of the magic. Some of the displays are beautiful and even transcendent, like the Cinderella's castle; others are rather ho-hum. Repetitive music plays on loops from speakers spread throughout the walkways. But in many ways it is like a local fair. Above-average food vendors are in one bubble tent, artisans in another. There is a large ball-filled pen for children; another bubble holds a movie house; a third for something we didn't look at. These wouldn't be so bad, but the $28 (+$6.25 in taxes and fees) PER TICKET makes it less enjoyable. I'm glad I did it but I probably won't ever do it again. read more

Planned to go with my friends months before and bought the ticket and everything. But on the day that we were suppose to go, they canceled the event due to weather condition. The weather wasn't all that bad. It was a little foggy during the day and around 40% rain at night, but they still canceled. So all that planning we did beforehand was useless and we are busy people. We don't know when we will be able to all go again as the group contained 7-8 people, so we just asked for a refund. I followed them on instragram too and I noticed that they cancel a lot of times because of weather. I was really hoping it wouldn't happen on the day we were going but unfortunately it was still canceled. So if you do plan to go, know that it's not 100% sure if the event will be open because of weather. read more

I would give 0 stars if I could. Worst experience ever. First I get an email on the week that I was suppose to go that they will be closed on the day that I signed up to go for maintenance. Okay. So I decide to go on another day. But when I did the place was pitched black. Never got an email saying they were going to close and no announcements about closure on their Instagram account. On the 3rd time I tried to go again, guess what.... they're closed again!!!! Due to what...???? I don't know, it was a bright sunny day with no rain or snow in the forecast. Tried to go to this event 3 times!!!!!!!! Emailed them for a refund and it's been almost two weeks since I made contact and NO RESPONSE FROM THEM WHATSOEVER!!!!!! There is no phone that you can call them. Like I said WORST EXPERIENCE EVER. If you have a problem there is no one there to help you. You just have to wait for them to respond if they even decide to respond. WASTE OF MY MONEY WHICH THEY SCAMMED FROM ME!!!!! My advice, unless you're positive that you'll get into the event don't waste your money on this. read more

I was excited for this, but hugely disappointed. Less than 20 food vendors, less than 20 retail tables selling very cheap and poor quality items, no entertainment. Very little staff on the grounds. Lanterns were subpar. Won't be back again! read more

Just horrible and horrible. They were charging $25 for a cotton candy?!!! There is not much to see and everything was 10 times more expensive. PARKING is $25 !!!!!!!!!!! This is not Manhattan this is Queens. read more

The tickets are 28+, many attractions are not operating at 100 percent. They have some dance shows but they are just young girls dancing like strippers so it's a stripper show which I am sure all the men liked. Then They promise many food vendors but more than half are not there and the food that is available is not very good and overpriced. They are trying to charge manhattan prices or less than flushing quality. Fun to visit once but never again. read more

I went with my family past Saturday, it was freezing cold out so didn't enjoy the event as much with 3 kids. We couldn't feel our hands. I mean there was few tenants, but you have to pay for the kid's play area and this disco event. The food plaza had decent amount of food choices. However, the give very little portions and took long time for get our orders with limited standing tables only. My little one complain he is tired and nowhere to sit. After spending close to 100 bucks on food and we were still hungry when we left. As a suggestion, should think about maybe doing it in the summer time which will be more enjoyable. read more

This was a strange experience for our family. Where was the fun? It has a rather surreal futuristic sensibility about it. It's not a Christmas festival for sure, it lacks the warmth. A large costume character (panda) roamed around, but behind the scenery. We saw a Santa who warmly waved to us, and that was about it for the festive part. As we traversed into the thick of it, we just saw more of the same thing, lighting displays. It is basically a parking lot with many large lighting displays. The food tent was the most interesting, the vendors were eclectic, a pickle man with flights (of pickles?) and many other interesting food choices which makes anyone from Queens feel proud. An especially creepy scene was a tent with a DJ with a smattering of folks with headsets on, all-dancing in silence. I thought, is this David Lynch, or is this Christmas? read more

Great experience overall. Awesome winter adventure out into the cold. The line was long for the first hour or so. I would suggest going after 6:30pm. The live performance starts at 6:30 anyways. All the kids were having a blast and adults can feel kid-like again with all the lights and activities. DRESS WARM. There are tents, but the outdoor has so much too. read more

Hello Panda was beautiful fun! We got discounted tickets months ago, but it's definitely worth the full price ticket. Parking is pricey at $25, but oh well. It wasn't too crowded when we went, so that was nice. The displays are all very pretty and well executed. The entrance is especially pretty and colorful. There are a few domes in which you may warm up, if it's very cold outside. The food tent has lots of good stuff. We feasted upon fried pickles, steamed buns, crepes, and empanadas, and everything was very tasty. There's an ATM onsite, which is helpful, since some booths take only cash. A good percentage of them do take cards, however. Be prepared to smell strongly of food upon exiting the food tent, as the ventilation in there is less than ideal. There are light up swings, a very easy maze, a light up floor, and some ride-on animals (which I believe are $5 for 5 minutes) for the kids. I hope Hello Panda returns next year. I'll definitely go if it does. read more

Fantastic light show event! Beautiful displays, fun activities for kids in tent, we all had great time esp my little nephew. Highly recommended! read more

Eye catching light displays. Something different to do during the holiday season that isn't holiday related so welcoming to everyone. That's the good part. Bad part: no rides to speak of. Food selection in the food tent pretty awful. Half the vendors weren't even open. Very expensive. No place to sit. Didn't look very sanitary to me as some vendors were cooking outside the tent. Port able toilets disgusting and no lights. Myself and my friend we tripped several times over the cable covers. Felt that was dangerous and cable covers should have been lit. There was a tent that had a ball park like at IKEA that kids seemed to like. Maybe the organizers considered that a ride? Just felt kind of lame. read more

I went there yesterday, 1/19/20 with my friend. We had tickets to go on 1/16/20 but it was closed due to high winds. The lights illuminated forests, inflated mermaids, dinosaurs, and pandas were beautiful displays everywhere on the premise. It was relatively cold and windy about 40 degrees. We did a quick walk through about an hour and took some pictures. I see most children were shrivering cold. The prices in food court were very expensive. $5 for hot chocolate, $10 - $20 for a designer cotton candy. There was a ball pit for children to go in for another $10 for 30 minutes in addition to the admission price. I have VIP tickets of which I sat in the VIP section for the stage show and was chased away not allowed to sit there. I left before the show starts. I heard from friends who attended the the show was not worth watching or worth the money they paid for the discounted admission tickets. It was very misleading that it was warmest festival in the winter. read more

Pro's 1. The kids will have a good time. 2. The dinosaurs were my favorite. 3. The food selection was pretty good. My wife was happy. 4. Although very few vendors the ones that were there were really cool. Make your own figurine, Chinese candy lollipops, strawberry skewers, and cotton candy were the favorites. Con's 1. Be prepared to wait a long time in line if you haven't bought your ticket online. 2. Come with a lot of cash. Come prepared to spend a lot of cash because the entry does not cover many of the fun things your kids are going to want to do and buy. The prices are reasonable but the kids are going to want to buy everything. 3. Not many vendors. 4. Be prepared to deal with people cutting the line in front of you when waiting to get on the swings, seesaw or anywhere there is a line. People do not care that you have kids waiting in line. 5. There is really no supervision on any of the exhibits. You will see people crossing over and touching the exhibits. 6. The bathrooms are hard to find. 7. Not all the tents have things to do, some are empty. 8. No taxis nearby. Unfortunately, my phone died and we could not catch a cab. We took the train home. 9. Parking is very expensive. 10. Most of the exhibits like the castle, dinosaurs and the maze, are really nice but other than that not much too look at. read more

The festival is over priced from the entrance fee to the food. The website advertised over 60 vendors from all over the world and that was a lie. There was only one food tent and it housed at least 15 vendors. Why is there a Smirnoff hot chocolate stand in an event catered to children and their families? alcoholic candies and snack at another food stall??? 14 dollars for the specialty mac and cheese at one of the food stalls??? Almost all of the activities are catered to children except the art gallery that barely anyone went. I heard it was an extra 10 dollars for half an hour in the ball pit for the kids, really??? The only positive was all the beautiful lights that had everywhere. Still, how do they justify selling a 34 dollar or 27 in the weekdays entrance fee when there's nothing for other ppl to do that are not kids. When the food is overpriced and nowhere to sit to enjoy the food when you buy it. It's basically a tourist trap for people who want to kill time with their kids. Don't go and waste your money. There are better places to take your kids and family and this festival read more