On the evening of January 23rd, the Zigong Chinese Lantern World was dotted with lights like a sky full of stars. As darkness fell, large-scale lantern installations were illuminated one after another, and the park was quickly filled with crowds of people. This was the scene at the 32nd Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival, representing Zigong's most significant annual cultural tourism initiative to kick off the year. From a timing perspective, this lantern festival is not merely the start of festive activities; it also plays the role of a "preheater" for the Spring Festival consumption season. With the Lunar New Year holiday approaching, various regions are accelerating the launch of cultural tourism projects. Zigong has chosen a relatively clear path: to continue leveraging the lantern festival, a repeatedly proven city名片 (name card), to concentrate and unleash the potential of visitor flow and consumer spending.

The atmosphere was already exceptionally lively on the opening night. After being held continuously for over thirty years, the Zigong Lantern Festival is now being integrated into a more defined framework of city operations and consumption logic. On one hand, it maintains a stable output of intangible cultural heritage skills and traditional aesthetics; on the other hand, it extends its economic reach through the integration of technology, IP collaborations, and enhanced consumption scenarios. Looking back at the development trajectory of the Zigong Lantern Festival, one finds that its evolution is more evident in the details. Since its inception, the festival has transitioned from a folk lantern exhibition to a city-level branded event, gradually forming a stable production system and aesthetic style. Over the past decade, the scale of the festival has stabilized, with the focus of change shifting towards presentation methods and the visitor experience.

This year's festival continues to be held at the 650-acre Chinese Lantern World. The most immediate change compared to previous years is concentrated in the spatial organization. Some super-large lantern sets are designed as structures that visitors can enter and walk through, allowing them to view the displays while moving. The connections between different lantern installations are more coherent, and the overall visitor flow is closer to an immersive tour. In terms of content selection, traditional cultural themes still occupy the core position. Installations like "Magical Huaxia" and "The Legend of Mulan" continue the festival's consistent narrative approach, revolving around traditional Chinese stories and spiritual symbols. However, in terms of presentation, this content is broken down into multiple sequential scenes, resembling more of a "walking narrative."

At the craft level, Zigong lanterns still rely on silk-frame three-dimensional sculpting as their foundation. Simultaneously, materials such as straw, porcelain, and quilling paper have been systematically incorporated into the construction of the lantern sets, enriching the visual language. These types of materials have appeared multiple times in recent festivals and are being used on a larger scale this year. The use of technological elements has also increased. Drone performances, intelligent lighting control systems, and LED interactive installations are deployed in multiple areas, primarily for night sky displays, dynamic lighting effects, and interactive experiences. From an overall effect perspective, these technologies primarily serve to enhance the atmosphere and have not altered the fundamental presentation structure where the lanterns remain the main attraction.

Against the backdrop of intensive cultural tourism project deployments across various regions, a single lantern festival is no longer sufficient to generate long-term appeal on its own. Zigong's response is to position the lantern festival as a key entry point for cultural tourism consumption during the Spring Festival period, rather than treating it as a standalone destination. During this year's festival, Zigong simultaneously incorporated elements from online entertainment and trendy IPs. A "Honor of Kings" themed zone, content related to the virtual singer Luo Tianyi, and lantern installations and pop-up shops created in collaboration with trendy brands have been integrated into the overall tour route. These elements do not exist in isolation but intersect with the main body of the lantern festival, enhancing the sense of participation for younger visitors.

From a consumption structure viewpoint, this type of IP collaboration is more likely to extend the amount of time visitors spend within the park and its surrounding areas. Beyond viewing the lanterns, visitors engage in additional spending through activities like taking photos, checking in at popular spots, purchasing co-branded merchandise, and participating in interactions. They are also more inclined to extend their itinerary to include dining, accommodation, and other services. At the city level, Zigong has launched the "Happy Ticket Stub Alliance" initiative centered around the lantern festival, linking ticket purchases to dining, retail, and cultural creative consumption. Nearly 200 merchants across the city are participating, attempting to disperse the concentrated influx of tourists into a wider range of consumption scenarios.

This strategy is particularly crucial during the Spring Festival period. Every year, the Zigong Lantern Festival attracts a large number of tourists who travel specifically to see the displays. The practical challenge facing local authorities is how to convert this short-term concentrated visitor flow into more efficient city-wide consumption. To this end, Zigong has made concentrated investments in supporting facilities and service guarantees. Inside the park, walkways have been renovated, floating bridges have been built on water surfaces, and new parking lots have been added. Outside the park, measures such as optimizing traffic management, increasing shuttle bus frequencies, and setting up volunteer service points have been implemented to alleviate peak-hour crowd pressure. The core objective of these measures is to enhance peak-period reception capacity and reduce consumption loss caused by congestion and diminished visitor experience.