The Government Gardens are quite pretty by day but tonight they will look spectacular.
The park is the venue for Luminite, the latest event in Fire & Ice - Rotorua Winter Festival.
There will be hundreds of lanterns on display, all created in workshops on Tutanekai St, as well as entertainment and a fireworks display at 9pm.
"It's very exciting," said organiser Kylie Lang.
"The team are already talking about what to do next year.
"We've had lots of interest in the lantern workshops. They have been overfull - we've been turning people away. I think next year we'll have to go to a bigger venue."
She said organisers had received lots of positive feedback about the workshops, which have been subsidised by the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust.
"There's the idea of designing a lantern, using it in an event and then getting to take it home afterwards as well as it being a cheap indoor activity so it doesn't matter what the weather's like."
She said a team of people would put the lanterns up today.
There will also be glow-in-the-dark face painting and nail polish, giant games such as dominoes, noughts and crosses and Scrabble, shadow puppets, a Fairy Haven, Jellyfish Cave, a photobooth and a snow machine.
The night will end with a fireworks display at Teletubby Hill.
"We had fireworks for Blaze last year and we're using the same company so they've had to up the ante. They've added a couple of aspects.
"Luminite will be full on, there are lots of things to do whether they want to meander or stay and be entertained."
There will also be lanterns from the Chinese Lantern Festival in Auckland.
Luminite is free and starts at 6pm with fireworks at 9pm.
Police have thanked the public for their help in finding Hayden Kemp.