Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, the Lismore Lantern Parade is an annual community arts festival held on or around the longest night of the year, being the Winter Solstice.
Attracting in excess of 25,000 people each year, the festival celebrates community, art and nature with arts, crafts, workshops, regional cuisine, a spectacular parade, lanterns, parade bands, street theatre, music, carnival dancers, illuminated puppets, fire art and pyrotechnics.
Throughout the day, market stalls and entertainment occupy the heart of the Lismore CBD, culminating in the dazzling parade through the streets and the mesmerising fiery finale at Oakes Oval. The spectacular larger than life lanterns are created at the LightnUp workshop in the months leading up to the event amid much fun and community involvement.
“Lanterns, fire and outdoor celebration are deeply embedded in many cultures from China, Japan, Burma and Vietnam to Europe and Africa,” says Jyllie Jackson, Artistic Director, Lismore Lantern Parade, and CEO of LightnUp Inc.
“The lantern represents a positive metaphor for community optimism and hope throughout the world and it was from this tradition that the Lismore Lantern Parade was born.”
“When we were researching and dreaming about this year’s theme we found that there was a small earth like planet in the constellation of Libra – 20 light years from our Earth.”
“We took this for our theme this year. It conjures images of planets, and galaxies and returns us to our original concept celebrating the Winter Solstice. It also touches nicely on our organisation’s name LightnUp, working with light.”
To mark this years special occasion, the Lismore Regional Gallery will hold a unique exhibition Retrospective: 20 Light Years On: The Lismore Lantern Parade – featuring an archive of previous Lantern Parades in a digital media display, on display to 13 July.
The 2014 Lismore Lantern Parade is held on Saturday 21 June. For more information, visit: www.lanternparade.com for details.
Image: courtesy of LightnUp Inc