Dragon Lights Reno opened its 2026 season on October 2 at the Wilbur D. May Arboretum and Botanical Garden inside Rancho San Rafael Regional Park, and it runs nightly through November 29. If you live in Kings Row, you've probably seen the festival's name on banners around northwest Reno. For the third straight year, the garden lives a split life from early fall to the edge of winter. Mornings and afternoons are free and quiet. Evenings are ticketed, lit with lanterns and timed to the minute. The county's share of those evening tickets is set aside for the Arboretum itself.
Once you see how the two halves fit together, it gets easier to plan around Washoe County's largest park, all 580 acres of it, between now and the end of November.
A Summer Festival That Moved to Fall
Dragon Lights didn't start as an autumn event. When it first came to the Arboretum in 2018 under the name Chinese Lantern Festival, it ran from June 30 to August 5, according to a Washoe County staff report prepared for the April 16, 2024 County Commission meeting. The county approved a 2020 run, but the festival didn't return until 2022, and that year it ran in summer again.
| Year | Run dates | Theme | Reported visitors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | June 30 to Aug. 5 | Chinese Lantern Festival | More than 62,000, per the county |
| 2022 | July 1 to Aug. 12 | The Magic Returns | 94,017, per the county |
| 2023 | June 30 to Aug. 13 | Nature's Glow | 93,820, per the county's 2023 event report |
| 2024 | Sept. 27 to Nov. 30 | Year of the Dragon | 79,895, per the organizer |
| 2025 | Sept. 26 to Nov. 30 | Odyssey of Waves & Woods | 90,738, per the organizer |
| 2026 | Oct. 2 to Nov. 29 | Many Worlds Aglow | Season under way |
Attendance numbers depend on who's counting. The organizer's 2026 sponsor deck lists 69,000-plus for 2018 and 94,749 for 2023, both higher than the county's figures, so the table names the source for each year. The county's own records don't match exactly either. Its April 2024 staff report puts 2023 at 93,748. Any way you count it, the festival has drawn between roughly 60,000 and 95,000 visitors a season. Since 2024, those visitors have come in the weeks when the garden's trees turn color and the evenings get dark early.
The deck calls 2024 the first fall and winter season and 2025 the second, so 2026 is the third. Counting every season since 2018, the event manager told KOLO that this is the sixth year the festival has returned to Reno.
What the Move Means for the Daytime Garden
Before you take a weekday walk through the rose beds, it helps to know how the Arboretum is shared during the festival. Washoe County's Arboretum visitor page says the garden is open year-round during regular park hours and free, though special events such as Dragon Lights may charge admission during event hours.
The 2024 agreement spelled out the details. During the ticketed event, the Arboretum would be closed to the general public, and it would stay open free of charge from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day of the run. The same report notes the festival needs about three weeks to set up and two weeks to take down. That's why the lantern frames show up among the plantings well before opening night and stay a while after the last one. No 2026 map of daytime path closures has been published, so it's safe to expect some installation areas to be marked off.
County parks generally stay open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in spring and fall. That two-hour gap between a 5 p.m. daytime close and a 7 p.m. park close is the handoff window. The garden clears out for the evening crowd, and the rest of Rancho San Rafael's trails stay open.
November 2 Moves the Evening Earlier
The festival's hours change partway through the season, according to the Dragon Lights FAQ:
- October 2 to November 1: daily, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
- November 2 to November 29: daily, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Daylight saving time ends Sunday, November 1, 2026, and the festival's earlier schedule starts the next day. Starting Monday, November 2, the lanterns switch on an hour earlier, which lines up with the 5 p.m. daytime cutoff from the 2024 terms. If you walk the garden after work, your free daylight window shrinks that week from both directions. Sunset comes an hour earlier on the clock, and the ticketed evening starts an hour sooner. The onsite box office follows the same change, open 6 to 9 p.m. through November 1 and 5 to 8 p.m. after that.
Where the County's Share of the Ticket Money Goes
This is how the night garden helps pay for the day garden. Under the agreement between Washoe County and organizer Tianyu Arts & Culture, the county gets 10 percent of gross ticket sales, after credit card fees and any local admission tax, and 15 percent once sales pass $1 million. The county staff report says that higher level was reached in both 2022 and 2023. The county's take was about $234,000 in 2022 and $215,000 in 2023, compared with roughly $90,000 from the 2018 festival.
Those dollars don't go into a general budget. The report says they were placed in a restricted fund for the Arboretum and used for equipment and supplies, which it describes as "much needed for the Arboretum's maintenance." The 2024 agreement kept proceeds dedicated to the May Arboretum and Botanical Garden. It also included a step-up for 2025 and 2026: if 2024 ticket sales matched or beat 2023, the organizer would pay 15 percent of total gross sales in those two years. The county estimated about $200,000 for fiscal year 2025. The 2026 sponsor deck says part of the revenue supports Washoe County and the botanical garden, but it doesn't give this year's share or dollar amount.
So every evening ticket for the lanterns adds to a fund that keeps the free daytime garden maintained.
Using Both Gardens This Season
By day. Washoe County's parks calendar lists a free Ranger Walk: Fall Photo Hike at the Wilbur D. May Arboretum on Saturday, October 17, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Advance registration is required. It's a good way to see the fall garden in daylight with the lantern frames standing quietly among the beds.
By night. The 2026 theme, Many Worlds Aglow, has three zones. Asian Safari has a panda bamboo forest corridor and galloping horses five meters tall. African Desert centers on a 28-meter desert display and includes a color-shifting chameleon. Dinosaur World features a six-meter Tyrannosaurus rex and a 25-meter butterfly corridor. The event manager told KOLO that every lantern is handmade from metal, steel, LED lights and fabric, and that visitors can touch the pieces. The walking route is under a mile on mostly even paths and takes about an hour and a half. Food vendors serve Asian and Western dishes and take cash or card. A free audio guide is available by scanning a QR code on site.
Getting there. Parking is free and first-come, first-served. Close-in spaces at the Wilbur D. May Center are for ADA parking only, the Arboretum lot has a few close-up spots, and most of the space is at the west end of Rancho San Rafael. On Fridays and Saturdays, a free shuttle runs every 15 minutes from the west-end lot. The first one leaves at 5:45 p.m., and the last one departs the festival entrance at 10:15 p.m.
What it costs. Prices on the ticket page include tax and fees.
| Ticket | Weekday online | Friday and Saturday online | Walk-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| General admission, 12 and up | $23.75 | $27 | $35 |
| Child, 3 to 11 | $17.75 | $19.75 | $22 |
| Four-pack | $85 | $93 | Not offered |
Children under 3 get in free. Groups of 10 or more pay $19.75 a person on weekdays and $21.75 on weekends. The $68.25 season pass is sold online only and is good for any night of the festival. If you live nearby, the math is simple. Two weekend adult tickets cost $54, which is less than the pass. A third weekend visit brings the total to $81, and three weekday visits come to $71.25, so the pass costs less than single tickets starting with your third visit on any mix of nights.
Single tickets are for a set date and entry time, with a 60-minute window to get in. You can stay until closing. Sales are final. If weather or something else cancels a night, tickets move to the next available date, and holders have 24 hours to transfer to a date they prefer. The organizer recommends buying ahead, since the box office may close early on nights the festival reaches capacity.
The last lantern night is Sunday, November 29. After that, the take-down crews get to work, and the Arboretum goes back to being a free daytime garden all season.
At The Mike Wood Team, we keep an eye on the seasonal calendars that shape daily life around Rancho San Rafael and the rest of northwest Reno. If you have questions about how events like Dragon Lights fit into your corner of town, we're glad to talk them through. Make Your Next Move With Confidence.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
