The annual Liverpool Halloween Lantern Carnival took place in Sefton Park on Friday November 1st. Hundreds of people from across the region came together with their handmade lanterns to join the procession through the park organised by the Liverpool Lantern Company with their spectacular array of illuminated giant puppets representing various creatures of the night and other troupes of weird and wonderful characters, musicians and dancers.
The parade started at the obelisk monument at the Croxteth Drive entrance and wended its way deep into the park. Despite storm warnings and heavy daily downpours it was perfect weather on the night.
The parade has something of a carnival atmosphere and there was fun for all the family with lots of young children accompanied by their parents both in the procession and in the crowd of a few thousand spectators.
The Lantern Company, based in nearby Lark Lane, have been in existence for 10 years specialising in the production of arts festivals, one-off site specific events, carnival parades and visual theatre including the creation of processional floats, costumes and large-scale puppets.
At the heart of the company is a commitment to developing sustainable projects, which build skills and raise aspirations in people from the local community celebrating creativity and promoting social cohesion among both the participants and audiences.
The company aims to make its events accessible to those who may not normally access visual or performing arts.
The Halloween Lantern Carnival is a reflection of the work that the company undertakes with the city’s communities involving a wide range of local people to help make and repair lanterns every year. Open Lantern making workshops took place at venues across the city throughout October for those who wanted to take part in the parade.
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