Yang Zhi, minister-counselor for culture at the Chinese Embassy in Australia, was also present at the celebration.

"This is a platform set up by the ACFS ACT Branch, on which Chinese communities here in Canberra could show the positive spirit of the Chinese people, promote the Chinese culture, and at the same time contribute to the multiculturalism of local society," he said.

Ms. Keil noted that such Lantern Festival celebration has been held for more than 25 years, during which period it grew from small-scale gathering to an increasingly important event.

"It is such a lovely event to...make the Chinese culture better known to the Canberra community," she said. "So that Canberrans can understand Chinese better."