{"id":37484,"date":"2016-08-14T12:19:18","date_gmt":"2016-08-14T12:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/halifax\/?p=37484"},"modified":"2024-06-19T13:38:40","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T16:38:40","slug":"good-neighbours-good-times-northern-lights-lantern-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.familyfuncanada.com\/halifax\/good-neighbours-good-times-northern-lights-lantern-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Neighbours, Good Times at The Northern Lights Lantern Festival","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night my two young children fell\u00a0asleep clutching glowsticks,\u00a0their day’s clothes thrown\u00a0in a heap on the floor by their beds, covered in dried grass, sticky cotton candy and ketchup. It was three hours past their bedtime when their heads hit the pillow after a wonderful, magical night at the Northern Lights Lantern Festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are a few remarkable things about this festival, and the first is its location, Merv Sullivan Park, locally known as “The Pit”. \u00a0The Pit is not a traditional festival ground but a baseball diamond, sports field and tobogganing hill<\/a>, part of the former Rockhead Prison, and a stone’s throw from the expropriated community of Africville<\/a>, thus forming part of the\u00a0intriguing,\u00a0troubled history of the area. The hill is hugely steep and superb for rolling down, and this\u00a0is how many children – and some adults – arrive at the Northern Lights Lantern Festival!<\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/p>\n

Another remarkable thing about the festival is that it represents a truly diverse North End community. Looking around, I saw many familiar faces from the North End: Black, White, freckled, blonde, and everything in between. I also saw several groups of mothers and children, dressed smartly in hijab, presumably newcomers from Syria. In the lineup for the chip wagon, I heard exotic French-African accents. Later, I ran into our neighbours recently immigrated from Jamaica,\u00a0and some friends\u00a0from our daycare, who recently moved to Halifax from India. The North End is small, but the show of people at this festival proves that its makeup is as cosmopolitan as a neighbourhood in any large world city.<\/p>\n

The festival also brings out diversity in age. Whereas so many “family” festivals translate into “Moms and Tots”, this festival is a true family event.\u00a0Even the teenagers come! This year, in addition to pony rides, bouncy castles, games and face painting, Pokemon lures were part of the attraction.<\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/p>\n

Finally, although the festival gets bigger every year, it’s not about being<\/em> big…and its definitely not about going home! The food offering is modest: two chip trucks serving fish n’ chips, hot dogs, hamburgers and fries, plus free cotton candy if you want to line up. The music is provided by\u00a0local DJs and bands, and even a five year old boy who took to the stage to play “The Entertainer” on keyboards, ending with the main act, a very good rock cover band called\u00a0Under the Sun<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/p>\n

The finale of the festival is the Parade of Lanterns<\/strong>. Once the darkness settles, children process in a circle, holding candles in mason jars lanterns they made earlier in the evening. This year, the candles were replaced with neon glow sticks. The procession is very peaceful and quiet. It feels sacred.<\/p>\n

After the Parade of Lanterns my kids spent half an hour playing with friends, thinking of a million ways to shape, wear, wave and throw the glow sticks. Below is a beautiful video from a previous year, created by FPS productions<\/a>.<\/p>\n