Images by Sieh Mchawala
If you’re after something a little out of the ordinary this winter, we might have found just the thing. This June, the Adelaide Hills will come alive with a festival that brings together live music, delicious food, a glowing lantern parade, and a fiery finale that’ll light up your night.
That’s right, the Hills Winter Lantern Festival is back and celebrating its tenth year, with an extra special event that is focused on all things community and arts.
The festival started in Hahndorf by a group of local Adelaide Hills artists in 2015 and picked up from where a similar lantern festival left off a few years prior. Initially, the festival was inspired by a re-emergence of community-based arts festivals, which included elements of workshops, parades, live music, and fire spectacles. Particularly, events by the Welfare State in Cumbria, UK and Bread and Puppet in Vermont, USA, in the 80s and 90s were drawn upon for inspiration.
In the years since, the festival has grown to include everything from live music to food and drink. Of course, the arts will be in abundance, with local artists and community activists on deck and involved in the event.
At this year’s festival, director Tony says you can expect all this and more, but importantly, he encourages families to come along to the workshops before the event.
In the lead-up to the festival, Tony and the team are offering free workshops at local schools where you can come along and try your hand at making lanterns. This year, workshops will be held at Macclesfield and Mylor Primary Schools and the Echunga Institute.
“People should come and make lanterns on the Saturdays leading up to the event! That is the most fun… carrying a lantern you and your children have made, in our parade!,” he says.
All the lanterns are made of local, responsibly curated, harvested willow withies, paper tape, and are filled with candles, ready to light up the hills.
The real magic begins on the day of the festival. There’ll be food trucks serving up delicious local eats, a bar, live music by Mojo Overdrive, The Wallabeats, percussion workshops, and more. Around 5pm when the sun starts to go down, all the makers can begin lighting their lanterns, ready for an epic parade that shows off the stunning lanterns and the hard work that’s gone into them.
To finish off the day, expect a fiery finale, where a fire mural will be lit. This is sure to be as amazing as it is interesting, and a fantastic way to end the day.
So, if you’ve been looking for an excuse to head through the Hills this winter, here it is. You’ll find the Hills Winter Lantern Festival on June 14th at Echunga Community Park.
Hills Winter Lantern Festival
Where: Echunga Community Park
When: June 14th
For more information, click here.
More News
