Bath’s Christmas illuminations aren’t the only thing to light up the winter darkness this month.
Stand by to witness a very special and magical annual event on Thursday, November 20th when the streets of the city will be filled with a sea of hundreds of willow and tissue lanterns.
It’s the annual Holburne Museum Lantern Procession which sets off from the museum grounds and along Great Pulteney Street at 6pm through to Grand Parade for a celebratory finale in Parade Gardens.
It’s still not too late to buy a make your own lantern kit from the Museum and you can find out more via www.holburne.org/the-lantern-procession.
If you are looking forward to joining in, you are asked to meet up on the Holburne Museum’s front lawn by 5.30pm on the 20th – with your lantern of course.
The museum car park will be closed on the night so you are asked to leave your car at home or find alternative parking.
The Virtual Museum caught up recently with the Gardener’s Lodge Art Group who were hard at work on one of the lantern parade’s showpieces. This is a group that supports people with lived experience of mental health issues.
They meet weekly and get involved with everything going on at the museum – including this year’s nautically-themed special lantern procession.
There was certainly a bit of a buzz when your Director called in to see them all but hopefully you can hear this chat with Louise Campion who is Outreach Officer at the Holburne Museum.
The Holburne Museum has held a community Lantern Procession every year for the past eight years. Each year, the Procession has grown and developed artistically and it continues to work to make the Procession increasingly spectacular for both participants and onlookers.
A note from the Museum gives the following information:
• We carry on with the Procession whatever the weather so make sure that you’re appropriately dressed in something snug, warm and waterproof.
• To link with the Holburne’s themed Blue & White Christmas, the theme of the 2014 Lantern Procession is “On the High Seas”. Imagine journeys and voyages of discovery; you might see a shark, a turtle a sea horse or a whole shoal of fish!
• This year’s procession will set off from the Holburne Museum Grounds at 6pm. Anyone can take part in the Procession as long as they have a lantern. There’s no age restrictions but if you’re under 16 please make sure you’ve got a responsible adult with you. To join the Procession, you should meet on the Museum’s front lawn by 5.30pm.
• If you don’t have a lantern, please join in by watching the spectacle of the Procession. Good viewing points are Great Pulteney Street, Stall Street or Parade Gardens.
• The Route of the lantern procession follows Great Pulteney Street, moves onto Grand Parade, crosses onto Cheap Street, turns left onto Stall Street, turns left again onto York Street and enters Parade Gardens via the Orange Grove Pedestrian Crossing.
• We will be operating a rolling road closure down Great Pulteney Street to enable the Procession to take to the streets and deliver a safer and more spectacular event for all involved.
• The Lantern Procession ends with a moment of outdoor celebration and spectacle; a mini-festival in Parade Gardens. We expect to enter Parade Gardens at around 7pm. The event is likely to finish by 8pm.
• Bath School of Samba are providing five marching samba bands as part of the procession.
• The Holburne Museum Car Park will be closed from 12noon that day so that large vans and school minibuses can park.
• Members of the public wishing to drive to the event should make use of city centre car parks or the Bath Park and Ride Services.
MAKE A LANTERN
• We also offer several workshops at the Museum for local families to build their own lantern. To book a place on the workshop at a cost of £4 per lantern call 01225 388569.
Tuesdays 11 & 18 November, 3.45-5.45pm or Sunday 16 November 11-1pm or 2-4pm
• We also have two workshops specifically for under 5s and their parents or carers on Thursday 13 November, 10am-12noon or 1-3pm. To book a place on the workshop at a cost of £4 per lantern call 01225 388569.
• You can also buy a ‘jelly fish’ lantern kit to make at home from the Holburne Museum Information Desk or shop for £2.50 per kit or £3.50 with a LED light included. Follow this step-by-step lanten making guide
• In 2014, we will also commission 10-12 willow artists to produce their own giant figure head lanterns.
