The River of Light Lantern Parade 2012:
The 2012 River of Light Parade is over! And what a wonderful night it was. Light and joy filled the streets for one cold and dark hour - if you couldn't make it, you can still get a glimpse of the night - photos by Gordon Miller and Video by Eva Sollberger, Seven Days Newspaper are posted below - enjoy!
Many thanks to the following people for all the hard work, dedication and enthusiasm:
MK Monley, Gowri Savoor, Angelo Arnold, all the artists who attended the workshop and carried their lanterns in the parade, students of Thatcher Brook Primary School and Principal Don Schneider. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Ben and Jerry's Community Foundation and the TBPS PTO for your invaluable financial support. Thanks to Sambatucada for your amazing rhythms, and to the Waterbury Police and Fire Dept. for keeping us safe. And finally- thank to all the volunteers, it wouldn't be possible without you and to all of you who came out to cheer us on from the sidelines - have a wonderful year!
River of Light 2012 Video by Eva Sollberger, Seven Days Newspaper
Many thanks to Eva Sollberger, Seven Days Newspaper for this fabulous video of the night. Enjoy!
2012 in Pictures!
Thanks to talented local photographer, Gordon Miller, we have some wonderful images of the night. If you are interested in purchasing prints, please do so directly from his website (link to the right)
We’ll be adding more photos as they come in, but for now, enjoy!
Thanks for a Wonderful Night!
Heartfelt thanks to all of you who came out to support us for last night’s River of Light Parade. We had a truly wonderful evening – weather conditions were perfect, folks had lined the sidewalks throughout the parade route and the streets were filled with samba rhythms, light and joyful smiles. As soon as the photos come in we’ll be posting them – in the meantime – THANK YOU!
We’re Almost There!
With only two days to go, the 2012 River of Light Parade is almost upon us. That leaves us just enough time for a few last-minute preparations and finishing touches on our lanterns.
We are very happy to announce that the Bowles Family Singers will be joining us for the community sing in Rusty Parker Park at the end of the parade.
Please remember to collect your lanterns (if you have made one at TBPS) and your lights any time after 4pm. Lights will also be on sale in the gym – please arrive in plenty of time to join the parade which will be leaving at 5pm from Thatcher Brook Primary School, Waterbury on Saturday 8th. Don’t forget to dress up warmly and bring gloves if you are carrying a lantern – you’ll have happy hands! We look forward to seeing you 
Call to Volunteers
With only two weeks to go, we are all getting very excited about the River of Light. For one hour of pure magic, there is a lot that happens behind the scenes in the weeks leading up to the event and on the day of the parade.
If you would like to volunteer a few hours of your time on Saturday December 8th, we would really appreciate it – plus it’s a lot of fun and energies are high and happy.
If you can only give an hour or two – or more, please do let us know by emailing Gowri here or MK here
Here are just some of the jobs that we’ll be doing on the day – testing lights, distributing poles, stewarding the parade and assisting with road closures. We look forward to hearing from you – with gratitude in advance!
Battery Exchange and Buying a Light
If you made a lantern, either in Thatcher Brook Primary School or Crossett Brook Middle School, or at any one of our community workshops in 2010 and 2011, please do bring your lanterns to this year’s parade, along with the light and you can exchange your batteries for free. The batteries have a long life, so they may just last for next year’s parade too
If you are thinking of bringing your own lanterns to the parade, please remember to bring a battery operated light and a carrying pole or handle with which to hold your luminary. NO FIRE light please!
We will be selling battery operated LED lights on the night for the bargain price of $1 per light. This waterproof LED comes with batteries included and will be encased in a plastic baggie with twisty tie so you can attach it to your lantern. Image below.
If you need to exchange your batteries, or purchase a light, please come to the Gym at Thatcher Brook (it will be signposted) before joining the parade line. Any time after 4pm please, the earlier the better!
2012 Artists’ Workshop
On November 17th & 18th, we held our 2-day intensive Artists’ Workshop to teach and assist regional artists to make larger-scale lanterns to spearhead this year’s parade. We had a wonderful turnout – almost 30 artists and art teachers booked their places in advance and we even had an architect, a toy designer and an industrial designer to add to the mix. We were especially happy to see the art teachers over the weekend - with MK Monley representing Thatcher Brook, Jen Campbell representing Rumney School in Middlesex, Avril and Marianna from Stowe Middle School and Wanda Needham from the Newton School in Strafford. Inspired by our theme of ‘Outer Space’, we have a great range of lantern sculptures to showcase at this year’s River of Light that are truly out of this world. Images below…
The Life Cycle of a Lantern
This year we have chosen to use rattan for our frames as opposed to English willow which we have used successfully for the past two years. Rattan, which is most commonly used for seat weaving is a porous vine that grows in Indonesia. The rattan needs a little more care and attention than willow – it needs to be first soaked, then stretched and allowed to dry completely before it is cut to size. It is a little unwieldy to handle until it goes through this process. During the creation of the 140 lanterns made in Thatcher Brook Primary School this week, we have been wondering which material we prefer. Willow is rustic and organic, rattan is light and flexible. We have come to the conclusion that a combination of the two would be a perfect fit.
River of Light 2012 Event Poster
Sadly this year we will not be holding any community workshops but we will be hosting an intensive 2-day artists workshop. This will give artists, art teachers and other creative types an opportunity to experience working with larger-scale lantern structures to spearhead a lantern parade. It is a wonderful opportunity to create a larger-scale build if you are hosting a lantern parade within your school or community.
Previous experience of making is advised. This workshop is for adults only.
Dates: Saturday and Sunday November 17th and 18th 2012:
Place: Thatcher Brook Primary School, Stowe Street, Waterbury
Times: 10-4pm on each day, which will include an hours break for lunch.
For more information and to book your place, please contact Gowri Savoor on
email: info@gowrisavoor.com
Please note that although this workshop has been made possible through the generous support of our sponsors, we will be asking for donations for the workshop and requesting that you purchase your own lights for your lantern structures. This will help us to pay for materials used during the 2-day session.
Battery operated LED lights will be available for purchase at cost price during the workshop.
Please remember to book your places early and feel free to pass this information on to anyone you feel might be interested in attending this event. There is a limit of 20 places for this workshop.
We hope to see you there!
