Parking spaces in downtown Ukiah were in short supply Saturday afternoon as people flowing in the Alex R. Thomas Jr. plaza for the annual Lantern Festival hosted by the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas schools.
Celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year, this year’s event enjoyed beautiful sunny weather that filled the plaza with people and moved the dancers and musicians out into the open. Unlike last year, which saw rain that confined much of the activity under cover.
But the sun was shining for the seventh annual Lantern Festival celebrating the Year of the Dog, so the impressive Dragon and Lion dances had plenty of room to move.
Saturday’s event was the seventh annual, and it is hosted every year by the developing Virtue Boys School and the Ukiah Main Street Program.
Along with the Lion and Dragon dances, the display of musical skills included a performance by the student orchestra and drummers.
