[photo credit: Seamus Flanagan]

Farnham’s first Lantern Festival took place on October 31^st  2024. The inspiration for the Festival was the significant Celtic celebration which marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, taking stock of the past and looking forward to the future.

The Lantern Festival welcomed all parts of our community, young and old, to express their creativity, get involved in making a lantern, and come together to light up a dark October evening. Over the summer, community groups, faith groups, schools and informal groups of friends created spectacular willow and paper lanterns, and over 600 lantern kits were distributed by Farnham Town Council.

Just after the clocks changed, we came together in an outdoor gathering as groups and individuals assembled with their lanterns, to enjoy a  gentle festival atmosphere on the last day of October Craft Month. Music, poetry, beer and hot drinks set the tone, and the procession of 1000 people set out to walk with their lighted lanterns to St Andrew’s Church. The atmosphere was full of joy, community spirit and fun as people entered the Church to add their lanterns to the display as a large-scale communal craft endeavour.