Every fall the Montreal Botanical Garden (Jardins Botanique) has a lantern festival, Gardens of Light (Jardins de Lumiere). It’s absolutely magical for kids to wander through the Chinese Garden, over a waterfall flowing into Dream Lake, going in and out of the pavilions – the entire garden is decorated with large silk lanterns. A parent writes, “My kids loved it so much we had to go twice!”

This year the theme is voyages of the treasure ships. In the 15th century, Admiral Zheng He set sail from China with a fleet of huge treasure ships. The ships voyaged from China to Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Saudia Arabia, all the way to Africa, bringing back rare gifts and exotic animals (including a giraffe) for the emperor.

The lantern festival continues to Nov. 2.