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Winter lantern parade makes a welcome return

Bedminster Winter Lanterns A nighttime shot of a robot-style lantern towering above a parade of people, many holding smaller lanterns on long sticks, on a street in Bedminster.Bedminster Winter Lanterns
Thousands of handmade lanterns are made for the annual parade through the streets of Bedminster

A popular parade involving thousands of handmade lanterns is set to make a return after the annual event was postponed last year.

The Bedminster Winter Lantern Parade is run by the local community and is one of the city's best-loved highlights on the cultural calendar.

A successful fundraising appeal, launched last October, means the parade will once again light up the streets of south Bristol on 18 January.

"It really is a truly grassroots, multi-generational community event, and it's incredibly popular - there's always a wonderful feeling on the night," said organiser, Stef Brammar.

'Testing the water'

The committee of about 10 volunteers took a year out in 2024 in order to review how the free event might be organised in future.

"We wanted to refocus our energy and test the water to see whether people actually still wanted the parade to come back," said treasurer Jackie Smith.

"But the community did want it and the schools were very keen to be involved because quite a few felt that it was a legacy."

Bedminster Winter Lanterns Two children, each with a brush, pasting glue onto a white square of material with a large lantern behind them, decorated with butterflies and bugsBedminster Winter Lanterns
Professional artists go into schools in the BS3 postcode to help children create their own lanterns

The route of the parade has been altered this year to take in East Street, in Bedminster Green, where a new housing development, which includes student accommodation, has been built.

"We wanted to bring the new community into the old, and to make sure that we integrate and welcome the new people into Bedminster and the BS3 area," added Ms Smith.

Bedminster Winter Lanterns Eight primary school pupils standing around their lantern, which has layers of coloured paper depicting books on shelvesBedminster Winter Lanterns
Pupils from Luckwell Primary School are putting the finishing touches on their lantern, which relates to a famous bookstore in Porto, Portugal, which is twinned with Bristol

Bristol University and the housing developers, Dandara, are helping to finance the £22,000 cost of the parade.

This includes paying for professional artists to go into every school in the BS3 postcode over the winter to help children create their own lanterns.

"We've been painting sheets of paper and then putting glue all over them, and then sticking them on top of our snail lantern - my hands haven't gotten too sticky," said Sophie, from Coney Hill Primary School.

Bedminster Winter Lanterns A group of older people in a large community room sitting round a table with a large teapot-shaped white lantern on itBedminster Winter Lanterns
The event is multi-generational, with many community groups of all ages taking part

The organisers, who rely on an army of about 80 volunteers to be street marshals on the day, said they still need more helpers.

"We're not run by professionals. The people who run it aren't paid to do so.

"There's just a real sense that this is our community and we're celebrating it," added Ms Brammar.

The parade starts at 17:00 GMT in North Street.

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