Daniel Stowe Conservancy’s Chinese Lanterns installation turns sixty handcrafted sculptures into an evening you didn’t know your summer needed.
Chinese Lanterns at Stowe EVENT DETAILS
June 18–August 30, 2026 Evenings Tuesday–Sunday · Daniel Stowe Conservancy, Belmont NC · GoGastonNC.org Tickets required in advance — sell out on peak weekends · Arrive before sunset for the full experience · Paved paths, stroller and wheelchair accessible Nearby: Crowders Mountain State Park · Schiele Museum of Natural History & Planetarium · Goat Island Park · U.S. National Whitewater Center · Belmont Bookshop
The moment the garden goes dark and sixty lanterns come on at once is the kind of thing that makes you reach for someone’s hand.
What waits inside Daniel Stowe Conservancy is a working botanical garden in Belmont, and on most days it’s a peaceful place, walking paths through seasonal blooms, the Orchid Conservatory’s humid tropical quiet, the Butterfly Bungalow where you can stand among wings that land on you if you hold still. It’s worth visiting on its own terms. From June 18 through August 30, it becomes something else entirely. Chinese Lanterns at Stowe f ills the grounds with nearly sixty handcrafted lantern installations, towering dragons, oversized florals, animals and sculptures that glow from within against the dark garden. The lanterns are built using techniques that are centuries old, each one assembled by hand, and the scale is consistently larger than visitors expect. Children stop walking. Adults stop talking. The garden earns the silence.
IF YOU DO ONE THING:
Arrive before sunset and walk the gardens while it’s still light. The lanterns are the reason you came, but the transition is the thing you’ll remember, the moment the sky darkens and sixty handcrafted sculptures start to glow against the garden. You can’t experience that if you arrive after dark. Come an hour before sunset, walk the Orchid Conservatory and the grounds, and be on the main path when the light changes
Before the lanterns: Belmont
The town of Belmont sits a few minutes from the conservancy and earns a few hours of your time before the evening begins. T he downtown is compact and walkable, historic streetscape, locally owned shops, and enough dining options to make the choice genuinely difficult. Nellie’s Southern Kitchen is the local standard for dinner before the show, the kind of place that fills up with people who live here, which is always the right indicator. Old Stone Steakhouse is the option for a longer, slower meal. For something lighter, Bumblebee Creamery and Tastebuds Popcorn are the stops that make the walk downtown feel like the point rather than the preamble.
The next morning: extend the trip
Crowders Mountain State Park is the argument for staying overnight. The trails are rewarding and the summit views across the Piedmont are the kind that make a phone feel inadequate. A morning there after an evening at the lanterns is a complete Gaston County trip. Schiele Museum of Natural History & Planetarium is the right next stop for families, hands-on exhibits, live animals, and a planetarium that gives the younger contingent something to argue about on the drive home. Goat Island Park offers a slower morning by the water if that’s the mood. For the more ambitious, the U.S. National Whitewater Center is a half-day unto itself.
QUICK PICKS
EAT: Nellie’s Southern Kitchen
Local favorite, dinner before the lanterns
DRINK: Jekyll and Hyde Taphouse Grill
Indoor & outdoor seating, craft brews
DO Chinese Lanterns at Stowe
Daniel Stowe Conservancy, June 18–Aug 30
STAY 4 Preferred Hotels
Visit GoGastonNC.org to plan your stay
Build Your Visit
EVENING ONLY: Head straight to Daniel Stowe Conservancy and spend the evening enjoying the magical Chinese Lantern display.
FULL DAY: Afternoon in Belmont — lunch, browse downtown, pick up something at Bumblebee Creamery. Head to the conservancy for the garden walk and stay through the full lantern display.
OVERNIGHT: Stay nearby and spend the next morning at Crowders Mountain or Schiele Museum. The overnight turns a single evening into a Gaston County weekend!
