Illuminares Lantern Festival 2018 in Vancouver

This truly magical event is a highlight of mid-summer in East Vancouver. The Illuminares Lantern Festival annually draws over 30,000 people to Trout Lake in John Hendry Park. Preparations begin earlier in July with numerous of workshops where everyone can make a unique paper lantern for the festival.

This event is a mixture of activities and entertainment like the lantern parade, fire-breather shows, and live musical performances. Here you can see original paper lanterns in all shapes and sizes. The lantern parade starts at dusk and lasts until 10:30 pm. The event was initiated as a small community festival and now it has grown into one of the most popular in Vancouver.

In addition to lantern processions, the festival features creative workshops, interesting performances, and happenings. It enhances community cooperation and artistic self-expression. Participants can make their own lanterns during one of several lantern-making workshops around Vancouver. Let your imagination loose: after all, even a milk-carton can become a lantern. Equipped with their creations people then get together to light up the night for each other and celebrate their unity and creativity. Illuminares Lantern Festival is traditionally held on the last Saturday of July each year. The event has changed many locations since its start in the 1980s. But it has finally returned to its home at Trout Lake in East Vancouver.