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Salish Sea Lantern Festival lights up Sidney

Organized by ArtSea, event celebrates art, culture, light and community
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The Salish Sea Lantern Festival is underway on the Saanich Peninsula for the first time since 2019. The windup event happens this Saturday (Aug. 20) in Sidney. (Photo by Bob Orchard)

A lantern festival snuffed out by COVID-19 the past two years has reignited.

The 2022 Salish Sea Lantern Festival, organized by ArtSea community arts council, is in progress on the Saanich Peninsula and runs through Aug. 20, when the familiar procession of lanterns will parade along Sidney’s waterfront starting at 8:45 p.m.

The event also features costumed characters and music, with this year’s performances at Beacon Park coming from Daniel Cook & the Radiators, as well as the Uminari Taiko Drumming Ensemble, starting at 7:30 p.m. this Saturday.

The event sees participants create lanterns of various complexities, many with an aquatic theme. People can either build their own following a free online tutorial, or pick up a jellyfish lantern kit for $10 with all materials included at Island Blue, Buddies Toys and The Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea store in Sidney. Organizers also invite the public to create a lantern in memory of a time, person, pet, or place at a new memory lantern station.

RELATED: Traditional salmon designs brighten Salish Sea Lantern Festival

The event also features large-scale lantern installations around the region, with residents invited to tour them using an interactive map.

Thousands of residents and visitors have been drawn to Sidney for past editions of the festival, which ranks among the highlights on the region’s events calendar, offering a celebration of art, culture, light and community.

For more information visit artsea.ca


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wolfgang.depner@peninsulanewsreview.com



Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
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