On Sunday, November 10, 2024 at 4 p.m., around 50 Mad River Valley residents gathered in front of the Warren Library for a Lantern Walk celebration. Families from Warren, Waitsfield, and Fayston attended. The children carried handmade lanterns, and the families walked together through Warren village, singing songs to celebrate the light in everyone. The procession began and ended on the library lawn, where guests enjoyed a fire pit and mulled cider.
The event was organized by two Warren parents, with help of the Warren Library staff. Lantern-making supplies were donated locally, and assembled into kits which were made available to all at the Warren Library. A lantern decorating event was held on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, at the Warren Library, and lantern kits were also distributed to the Warren elementary school Pre-K classrooms. Under teacher Andra Kisler’s guidance, students decorated lanterns as a classroom activity.
Throughout history in many parts of the world, the end of the harvest season has been celebrated with festivals of light. During these shorter, darker days, the Lantern Walk presented an opportunity to come together and celebrate the light that children bring.
