Vail Loves a Parade

Vail’s Paper Lantern Project debuted last winter thanks to the town’s Art in Public Places program. The concept brought local elementary-school children and their families together with an artist to create beautiful paper lanterns with reed frameworks, which the kids then carried aloft, lit by LED lights, at Vail’s annual tree lighting in Slifer Square. It was a big success, notes AIPP coordinator Molly Eppard, except for one thing. “Last year, there were some tears and upset moms, because after the kids made their lanterns, they wanted to have a parade,” Eppard explains. Who wouldn’t?

So things will be different this time, says Eppard, who’d like to see the homegrown celebration of lights become a Vail tradition for years to come. “We’ll actually be having a lantern walk up Bridge Street,” she says, adding that the procession will be accompanied by “a special guest and his helper,” who will travel by pedicab until they reach the tree-lighting ceremony, then fly off in a gondola. Anyone with a handmade lantern — from the workshop or crafted at home — is invited to participate in the parade; LEDs to put inside (under-written by a generous Vail resident) will be handed out at the square, along with hot chocolate and other treats.

Two-hour workshops with local paper artist Helen Hiebert start at noon and 2:30 p.m. at the Vail Public Library, 292 West Meadow Drive in Vail; the community lantern walk heads down Bridge Street at 5. Admission is free; for more information, visit artinvail.com.
Sun., Dec. 21, 2014