lismore lantern parade
saturday 21 june 2025
Celebrating 30years of bringing light to the heart of our community
Lismore’s signature event
Established 31 years ago, the Lismore Lantern Parade is a nationally and internationally recognised, award-winning annual festival that celebrates the Winter Solstice – the shortest day of the year, a time of optimism and renewal.
The celebration is based on a breath-taking parade of lanterns, light and performance through the main streets of Lismore, travelling through the heart of the city to the banks of the Wilson’s River climaxing with theatrical performance, fireworks and a spectacular bonfire.
The Lismore Lantern Parade enjoys considerable community engagement and involvement. Levels of
participation and enthusiasm build in the months leading up to the event and culminate in the joyous celebration of the final parade.
The strength of this engagement is underpinned by partnerships with local educational & financial
institutions, business, community groups and Lismore City Council. The Lismore Lantern Parade has become a favourite date for Family and Friends ‘get-togethers’, with families being our major demographic. Seniors and Grey Nomads are also well represented, with the under 25s a steadily growing representation too.
The Lantern Parade is an icon for the region and is recognised by Lismore City Council as the Signature Event for the city. The Lismore Lantern Parade enjoys unprecedented support from the local community and attracts visitors from all over Australia and the world.
Notwithstanding the Covid Pandemic and the devastating floods of 2022, and the tight economic environment, the lantern parade attracts a highly diverse audience of over 30,000 people, coming from as far afield as South and Western Australia, North Queensland and Victoria, and of course from throughout NSW and SE Queensland. A small % of International visitors are also regularly entranced by the event.
Around 2,500 people take part in the actual parade, this includes community organisations, schools and preschools, bands and many performers. Local businesses and organisations participate as a part of their staff team building. Participants come from throughout the region – Evans Head, Byron Bay to Tweed, Tabulam, Kyogle and Casino.
Despite the challenges over the years, the Lantern Parade has never been cancelled. We even created a Virtual Lantern Parade during the 2020 lock-downs, with lantern installations in the Lismore CBD. For the Virtual Parade we set up an on-line shop to sell lantern kits, people then sent us photos of their home-made lanterns, which we turned into a video that we mixed with a live stream broadcast and linked in with people in Atlanta USA, the UK and New Zealand as well as Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. In 2021 we had to move the Lantern Parade to the Showgrounds with a limited, ticketed audience of 5,000 to meet Covid restrictions.
However, most Importantly in 2022 the devastating floods that brought so much trauma to our community, the Lantern Parade become an important catalyst in our healing after these terrible days.
The role played in the floods by the SES and Civilian Volunteers' Tinnie Army was honoured in the parade in a cathartic and humorous way, with a finale depicting the fiery Phoenix in a heart symbolising regeneration and hope. "The Healing Hearts" was considered to be one of the best lantern parades ever.
In 2023 our theme was ‘’Gates of Renewal’ – taking steps into liminal space, finding a path to renewal. And our return to the riverbank was received with much joy if a bit of a tight squeeze.
In 2024 – the Lismore Lantern Parade celebrated 30 years, bringing light to the heart of our communities.
So many families from all over Australia have grown up in wonderment of the magic of the lanterns each year. The lantern parade is truly an inter-generational tradition, with babies in prams now bringing their teenagers to the lantern parade this year.
Our theme last year looked back to our simple parades in the early days, and the growth of the Lantern Parade into the beloved community tradition it is today.
We were also very excited to have been asked by Lismore’s 41st Battalion, Royal NSW Regiment to facilitate and support their exercising a Freedom of Entry to the City of Lismore.
The last time the Freedom of Entry was exercised was in June 1979 as a part of Lismore’s Centenary Celebrations. The tradition of Freedom of Entry to a city, municipality or shire originates from a custom dating back to medieval times, Freedom of Entry is the highest honour a municipality may bestow upon a unit.
Exercising a Freedom of Entry is an honour that has been bestowed on 41 RNSWR by the citizens of the city of Lismore and is a tradition that has been practised by military units since the reign of Charles II in 1660 and exercising the freedom is a ceremonial event of deep historical significance.
This was an excellent opportunity to show the people of Lismore thanks for their continued support to the soldiers and officers.
The Freedom of Entry took place early in the early afternoon of the 22nd June before the Lantern Parade.
The first lantern parade involved only a few hundred participants and a small crowd, in 2023 over 2,500 people walked in the parade with a crowd of over thirty-two thousand people lining the streets. We saw an even bigger crowd last year as people from all over Australia and beyond celebrated THEIR lantern festival's 30th anniversary!
The 2025 Lantern Parade’s program is still being developed and we look forward to announcing more about our 31st anniversary celebrations in the near future. Check out our PROGRAM section for early information and have a wonder about the Website for lots of useful information!
Remembering with love - Sara Tinning, John Lush, Joanne Kambourian, Karen Coyle, Suzanne Olesen, John Miller, Issy Brent, Bede Flynn, John Fox