Ulverston Lantern Festival is gearing up for its biggest parade in recent years with the theme ‘Under the Sea’, and is appealing for extra stewards to come forward to help direct the processions on September 15th.
The Festival expects as many as 700 lanterns to feature in the procession around the town which this year returns to Ford Park for a triumphant finale with fabulous fireworks, live music and displays of the incredible lanterns created by supporters. The town centre will effectively be closed to cars and other traffic from around 6.30pm onwards until around 10.00pm when the crowds of families from Ford Park have dispersed.
Spectators can expect to see sea monsters, shipwrecks, all kinds of oceanic creatures from sharks, whales and dolphins to manta rays, crabs and other crustaceans. Deep sea divers and frogmen will parade alongside mermaids and fish men, and there may even be the occasional submarine or shipwreck.
Local schools are planning to make lanterns to be included in the River of Light spectacle, and there will also be amazing creations by groups such as the Ulverton Scouts who in recent years have been responsible for the biggest lantern creations.
Lantern kits are on sale now for £5 each at the Coronation Hall, Costa Coffee, the Book Shack in the Market Hall, Appleseeds, the Laurel and Hardy Museum, from the Launderette at Croftlands, and from 14 Moorgarth in Swarthmoor.
Lantern workshops will this year be held on September 8th and 9th at the Parish Rooms on Church Walk from 2.00pm to 6.00pm, and Monday through to Friday during the week before the Festival from 5.30pm to 8.30pm.. There will also be workshops in the Coronation Hall on September 10th 11th and 12th from 4.30pm to 6.30pm
Safety is the key consideration for the Festival which attracts thousands of spectators to the town, and the organisers want to ensure that they have sufficient stewards to control the lanterns parade and the crowds.
Festival committee chair Chris Nelson explains: “The more people take part in and attend the Lantern Festival, the more help we need on the night to ensure everything goes smoothly. Stewards don’t need any previous experience – they just need to be willing to help us by giving a few hours on the night. This year once again promises to be a fantastic event, and a great night for businesses in the town providing food and drink. We also hope that more of the other businesses will stay open later to take advantage of the huge crowds in Ulverston.”
For more information on the Lantern Festival visit the Festival’s Facebook page or go to www.ulverstonlanternfestival.org. Anyone wishing to volunteer as a steward can contact Chris Nelson on 07761 930627 or send a message via Facebook.
Chris Nelson, Trafalgar PR
