Life & Light Lantern Parade & Festival finds Cathy & Kiaralinda all aglow
Tina Marie Avila, owner of Casa Tina Restaurant, has had a ten year dream to light up the night in Downtown Dunedin with handmade lanterns. Many thanks to Tina, a tireless promoter of fun things to do in Dunedin.
Held in honor of Earth Day
The Life & Light Lantern Parade & Festival included two days of lantern-making workshops, organic plant sales, seed swaps, funky music bands and sustainable gardening demonstrations.
Grateful Gluttons and Garden Fairies
Professional lantern maker Chantelle Rytter of Atlanta was engaged by Tina to teach lantern making. Chantelle runs an organization called the Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons. Their mission is to get grown-ups to come out and play. They believe that individual creative participation in civic events is priceless cultural development. The Garden Fairies and Gluttons are in synch on all accords!
Siobhan and Shannon show off their lanterns
A small Garden Fairy contingent, along with other participants, made recycled lanterns out of cardboard boxes scrounged by dumpster diving. Garden Fairy Kiaralinda joined a group who made flower shaped lanterns on Thursday Night.
Too much light(ning)
We were looking to light up the night, but mother nature had bigger plans. A potent thunder storm appeared right before the parade was to begin. The storm dampened participation, but a hardy group hung on, enjoying a wine before the marching began. The lanterns glowed with the help of LLD lights that we were able to purchase from Chantelle for $5. The parade was a quaint with a small time vibe. Dunedin once again shines in our minds, day and night!
A partnership for great causes
Casa Tina’s family of Downtown Restaurants partnered with The Dunedin Harvest Food & Garden Co-op for the first Life & Light Lantern Parade & Festival on Earth Day weekend, Saturday and Sunday, April 23-24, 2011. This community art event was a fundraiser for the Planting Seeds workshop series and the 1% Food Project.
266 gnomes
April 30th the Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons is going for the Guinness record to challenge the Toronto Gnome’s record! They need over 266 gnomes to beat the Canadians. On their website, they proclaim “it is your civic duty to personify a surly urban garden gnome on April 30th and help your city achieve it’s rightful place in the Guinness Book of World Records! The Atlanta Gnomes intend to own that record in perpetuity.”
Lots more great lantern making and parading pics- See the Slide Show
The Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons
Life & Light Lantern Parade & Festival Events Schedule:
Saturday, April 23, 2- 7 PM
• Life & Light Lantern Festival w/ Live Music
• Paper Lantern Making Workshops
• Gardening & Sustainability Demonstrations
• Great FOOD at 3 downtown locations!
Sunday, April 24, 12 – 8:30 PM
• Life & Light Lantern Festival w/ Live Music
• Paper Lantern Making Workshops
• Gardening & Sustainability Demonstrations
• Great FOOD at 3 downtown locations!
• 8 PM LIFE & LIGHT LANTERN PARADE!
I couldn’t make it this year, so Ihope they have this next year. What a lovely idea!