Water Lantern Festival promotes much-needed social unity

More than a thousand lighted lanterns were launched in the 2024 Water Lantern Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)

By Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com

Water lantern festivals have been bringing people together in celebration of peace, hope and remembrance for more than 2,000 years.

When I set my personalized lantern adrift amid a mass flotilla at Mills Pond Park in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., it struck me: This is social media as it should be.

These simple lanterns, consisting of a square wooden base topped with four-sided rice paper panels that each of us decorated with our individual thoughts and wishes, were the media. From what I could tell the messages inscribed with magic marker were expressions of common concerns rather than the division and vitriol that dominates the electronic social apps.

Water lantern festivals, which originated centuries ago in Asia, have recently become popular in the West with more than 100 staged annually throughout the United States as well as Canada and Australia.

“The Water Lantern Festival offers a beautiful way to express your hopes, dreams, and aspirations,” says Nate Sorensen, event director at One World LLC- Water Lantern Festival. “It’s an evening that will stay with you long after it’s over.”

Interactive event a refreshing change from social media discord

We welcomed the opportunity to interact with people face to face in a peaceful setting instead of anonymously from behind an electronic screen.

A positive vibe was immediately evident as the crowd began gathering by the lake three hours before the sundown launch to decorate their lanterns creating a carnival atmosphere. There were food trucks, a row of crafts vendors and music, including several live performers.

Participants at the Water Lantern Festival receive a kit with an easy-to-assemble lantern and a red marker to decorate it. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)

Water Lantern Festival participants express heartfelt sentiment and show their creativity in decorating their lanterns. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)

We noticed people were eager to interact and showed an interest in how others were decorating their lanterns.

Everyone received one red marker in their lantern kit. We brought a variety of colored markers to add distinction to our lanterns and shared them with the woman camped next to us.

It’s not so much the artistry that makes the lantern as it is the sentiment.

Hearts were by far the dominant symbol we observed floating past as people took turns setting their lanterns adrift. There were sunbursts and at least one yin-yang symbol. Someone used dots to turn a lantern into a floating dice and another became a numbered cube.

Water Lantern Festival participants express heartfelt sentiment and show their creawtivity in decorating their lanterns. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)

Water Lantern Festival participants share personal stories

Most common were written expressions of love or remembrances of loved ones who have departed.

Before the launch, some participants came on stage to tell the stories of their lanterns, some heartbreaking, all of them heartfelt.

When it was time to begin launching, a group meditation was broadcast over the sound system. After that, mellow music played as people made their way to the water’s edge over the next hour, turned on the LED candle inside their lantern and pushed it onto the lake.

As darkness set in, the procession of hundreds of illuminated lanterns beamed brighter. Given the personal meaning people conveyed with the lanterns, the emotional energy was palpable and moving.

Water lanterns are launched in a contained area so they can be removed from the lake and recycled. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)

Thousands attend Water Lantern Festivals

Visit Fran Davis's Etsy store for an assortment of handcrafted jewelry. — Visit Fran Davis’s Etsy store for an assortment of handcrafted jewelry.

The launch area was encircled by a restraining rope to contain the lanterns so they could be removed from the lake after the event.

The prevailing wind pushed all of them to the south end of the containment area, creating a flickering yellow-brick road of massed lanterns that made for a stunning final image from our first water lantern festival.

The enjoyment of a joyous community event shared with hundreds of strangers was well worth the $29 admission.

Note that if planning to attend a Water Lantern Festival, it is wise to purchase tickets in advance. The price increases significantly beginning a week before the event.

We intend to make the Fort Lauderdale festival an annual event.

Here is a link to the Water Lantern Festival schedule for late 2024 and 2025.