Dudley Park will light up just after dusk as glowing lanterns and other illuminated creations travel over winding paths during the Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services’ second annual Flight of the Fireflies Lantern Parade slated for Saturday, Mar. 16. The new community event promotes creative placemaking through the arts, offering an exciting opportunity to get creative and explore the park after dark.
Lantern parades have risen in popularity across Georgia in recent years, in part due to the vision of parade artist Chantelle Rytter and the Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons, founded in 1999 during New Orleans’ Mardi Gras. After launching Atlanta’s popular BeltLine Lantern Parade in 2010 (held May 11 this year), Rytter and her team of lantern puppeteers spread the magic to other cities through events including the Butterfly Lantern Parade in Hapeville (Mar. 23), Sandy Springs Lantern Parade (Apr. 13) and Parliament of Owls in Midtown Atlanta (Aug. 3).
Here in Athens, Flight of the Fireflies was preceded by an annual lantern parade launched in 2018 as a collaboration between the Lyndon House Arts Center and Athens Institute for Contemporary Art. The Athens Lantern Project, spearheaded by artist Abigail West and funded by an Arts in Community Resilience Award from the Athens Cultural Affairs Commission in 2021, also consisted of a handful of pop-up lantern-making workshops repurposing hard-to-recycle materials.
“Lantern parades have been popular in recent years I think because they are outdoors, which makes them safer for COVID conditions, and are a way for people to be together in a meaningful way,” says Stephanie Raines, arts administrator of ACC’s Arts Division. “The Flight of the Fireflies Lantern Parade is an opportunity for folks to gather in Dudley Park to see the forest transformed with lights and lanterns, to give everyone a chance to bring their creativity to the parade, to dance and enjoy the drumming and to foster a sense of belonging to Athens.”
Lantern parades exist as open participatory platforms where the creativity, imagination and resourcefulness of a community can shine. Part of their collective success lies in a low barrier to participation. This free, family-friendly parade is open to individuals as well as groups representing schools, neighborhoods, businesses and other organizations, and registration is not required. While DIY lanterns are encouraged, any sort of portable, flameless, battery- or solar-powered light source is welcomed.
Though lanterns are traditionally made from rice paper covering reed or bamboo frames, participants are encouraged to think outside of the box and get crafty with items from around the house. This past weekend on Saturday, Mar. 9, ACC Leisure Services hosted a free lantern making workshop at the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM), where participants repurposed objects into unique lanterns and had the opportunity to help construct a large collaborative sculpture that will be displayed at the parade.
Participants are asked to gather in the center of the park at 7:30 p.m. before the parade steps off just after 8 p.m. From the park’s center, the route will cross the Firefly Bridge, come down the access ramp, and cross Poplar Street before re-entering the park. The route is expected to take approximately 30 minutes to walk, and will culminate with live music and other guest performances. Students of the East Athens Educational Dance Center, who were a big hit last year with their rainbow-colored illuminated wings, are scheduled to return. The Palms of Fire drummers and Athens Mountain Singers will both perform as well.
Last year, organizers commissioned members of local band Immaterial Possession and surreal theater troupe Peepa Show to create a large-scale illuminated puppet that served as a major highlight of the parade. This year, the Athens Cultural Affairs Commission accepted proposals from artists to create temporary light sculptures to display at different sites in Dudley Park. Selected artists Lynette Caseman and Maria Nissan were both awarded $500 each to carry out their installation designs, both of which have nature themes and incorporate recycled materials.
The parade will serve as the first official appearance of Mikhayla Robinson Smith in her new role as Athens’ second poet laureate, a program administered by the ACC Leisure Services Arts Division. A poet, author, spoken word artist, educator and mother, she aspires to make poetry more accessible within the community, especially for young people. Smith was selected by a committee—composed of local poets, educators, librarians and arts administrators—who evaluated applicants based on craftsmanship, vision for the position, professional achievement and community engagement. Her two-year term will include a variety of events and programming, all free and open to the public.
“I would like to see the parade grow over time to include larger, more complex lanterns, illuminated puppets and groups in costumes,” says Raines. “Athens has such a vibrant, creative spirit—I am so excited to see how this event evolves over time.”
The parade also highlights several improvements recently made in 2021 to the 32-acre park as part of a $1.2 million project funded by the special-purpose, local-option sales tax (SPLOST), including an outdoor grassy amphitheater, pavilion and restroom facilities. “Heron Sighting,” a glittering mosaic mural by Krysia Ara, joined “Trail Blossom,” a towering sculpture by Rick Herzog, as another beautifying public art component.
The Firefly Bridge over Trail Creek was finally completed in April of 2023, just a few weeks shy of last year’s inaugural parade, after almost 25 years in the making. The 525-foot-long, $6 million bridge creates a level pathway connecting sections of the Firefly Trail, a planned 39-mile rail-trail running through Athens-Clarke, Oglethorpe and Greene counties. The bridge’s design centers around a modified reproduction of the “Murmur Trestle,” a historic railroad that became an iconic local landmark after appearing on the back cover of R.E.M.’s debut album Murmur in 1983 and was partially demolished in 2002 before the ACC government stepped in to save the remainder.
Parking will be available at the park’s East Broad Street entrance across from the UGA Chicopee Complex and South Poplar Street entrance behind Mama’s Boy, as well as the Easley’s Mill Trailhead, Oconee Street United Methodist Church and Oconee Street Park & Ride. Marshals will be stationed near various access points to help direct guests to and from the event. While biking, especially along the Firefly Trail, is a fun and encouraged way to arrive, cyclists are encouraged to check their bikes with the on-site bike valet. For more information, visit accgov.com/10599/Flight-of-the-Fireflies-Lantern-Parade.
WHO: Flight of the Fireflies Lantern Parade
WHEN: Saturday, Mar. 16, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Dudley Park
HOW MUCH: FREE!
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