Madison’s New Children’s Lantern Parade

[sws_pullquote_right]DATE:
Saturday, Nov. 22
TIME: 5:30 PM
WHERE:
Downtown Madison, AL
[/sws_pullquote_right]

The Madison Arts Council is excited to partner with several different organizations this year to bring Christmas Magic to Downtown Madison. We love our Historic downtown and want to show the newly renovated area off! To kick off the holiday season, we decided to create a Lantern Parade for the children of Madison.

The whole idea came from an article I saw about a German tradition called Laternelaufen. It had kids walking with homemade lanterns to bring light into the world on St. Martin’s Day (November 11). I loved the idea of crafts, kids, and creating a positive impact in the community.

Thankfully, we had Tina Clark on the Madison Arts Council board who took the idea and ran with it! She worked with the Madison Library and Madison Parks and Recreation Center to offer free classes for kids to build their lanterns.

Tina said, “Helping all the children accomplish the craft is very rewarding. I truly enjoy working with the children. Most of all I am looking forward to the lantern parade. The excitement and joy to light up the Christmas trees will be super exciting.”

We aren’t offering any more classes, but you can still be in our Lantern Parade! We have a how-to guide on our website to walk you through making your own lantern. This would be perfect for girl or boy scout troops who need a quick project and want to participate.

Event Details

The Madison Arts Council Lantern Parade will be held November 22nd at 5:30 p.m. in downtown Madison. We’ll be lighting up the Madison Mayor’s 2014 Christmas Trees on the Village Green.

The kids will line up at the Clay House located at 16 Main at 5:15 p.m. From there we’ll light the way through downtown and to the Gazebo on Front Street where we’ll light up decorated trees at 6:00 p.m..

The Madison City Youth Orchestra will be joining us and playing some music! So bundle up, pack some hot cocoa and peppermints, and come see us in Downtown Madison.

We’ll be posting more details about the parade and instructions about participating in the Lantern Parade on our Facebook page and website. We look forward to seeing you all November 22nd!

[box] ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Beth Ridgeway has been a member of the Madison Arts Council since 2011 and is passionate about all things art. She lives in Madison with her husband & toy poodle. She works as the Digital Content Director at iHeartMedia in Huntsville. When she’s not volunteering or working, you can find her binge watching Netflix, reading, or rehearsing improv..[/box]