Parade Photos 2015!

Photos by Gordon Miller. Enjoy!

Artist Lanterns 2015

Thanks for an amazing night!

A huge thanks! to each and every one of you that made the effort bring your joy to Saturday’s River of Light Lantern Parade. We had a record turn-out of lantern-bearers, spectators and magic makers; people arrived from across Vermont and New England, and it was a real pleasure to see so many fabulous bugs glowing in the December darkness. We are eagerly awaiting photos from our talented parade photographer, Gordon Miller, but in the meantime, here’s a shot of our artists’ lanterns from this year’s workshop. More to follow!

Artists’ Lanterns 2015

It’s Parade Day!

There’s just a few hours until the parade and the forecast is looking good! We are busy making some last-minute adjustments to our lanterns…the butterfly is almost complete.
Parade leaves at  5pm, from Thatcher Brook Primary School on Stowe Street and Rusty Parker Park, Main Street, Waterbury VT. LED Lights are available for sale from both locations for $1 each.  Grab your lanterns and  we look forward to seeing you tonight on the streets!

 

With just one day to go…

..our volunteers are working furiously to help prepare student lanterns in time for tomorrow’s parade.
If you are interesting in volunteering before or during the parade, we would really appreciate it! Jobs may include stewarding (wearing an orange vest & collecting poles at Dac Rowe etc.) or assisting artists in carrying their lanterns. Please come to the gym at Thatcher Brook Primary School, Stowe Street VT, at 3pm for the stewards’ meeting. Many thanks!

Volunteers prepare student lanterns

MK puts the finishing touches on some 4th grade large-scale lanterns

 

Need a bug lantern for this Saturday’s Parade?

Here are a few instructions! These adorable bug lanterns can be made out of recycled materials and a few coffee filters (3-4 small filters per lantern) These lanterns are quick, easy and fun to make. A little adult supervision will be needed to operate some cheeky equipment, but apart from that, happy lantern-making and we look forward to seeing your fabulous creations!

Make a bug lantern at home from recycled materials….

If you need a little pole, just pull a large paperclip apart, and tape one end firmly down to a dry stick, using duct tape. The other end can slip straight into your pipe-cleaner hook.
LED Lights are available for sale from both TBPS school gym and Rusty Parker before the parade.

Make a Cute Bug Lantern:

Equipment needed: any recycled materials will do…

Carefully cut a hole using a blade (adult supervision required here!) Your door will require a hinge. An awl will be useful in poking holes for wings

Tape your features down to the bottle-body using tape.

Tightly secure a handle using a pipe cleaner or wire

Cut wing shapes from your coffee filters….

Cut a few (2-3) coffee filters into squares. The glue will need to be diluted with 50% water. Mix well and using your sponge, paste a single layer of paper onto your bug lantern. Using a square of bubble wrap will save you a little glue and coat both sides of your paper..

Almost there! Cover your entire bug with a single layer of paper being careful not to paper over your doorway! Allow to dry…

Finally you can glue your paper wings onto your bug and add some features with sharpie marker. Feel free to add spots, stripes and patterns

Finally your bug is complete! Drop a light into the body and have fun at the parade!

Shining a Light on This Year’s Bands…

We are very fortunate to have three bands providing music for this year’s River of Light parade. Sambatucada—Burlington’s Brazilian samba-band—have been heading up the parade since we began in 2010 and will once again be treating us with their infectiously cheery rhythms.
And for the second year running, we are delighted to be joined by The Crosset Brook Middle School Junk Band, who will be leading the smaller tributary leaving from Rusty Parker Park on Main Street.
Brass Balagan are new to the River of Light—find them on the deck of The Reservoir Pub at 5pm, after which they’ll be providing some fabulous music at the rear of the parade.

Here’s a little more info in their own words:

SAMBATUCADA! Burlington’s own samba street band is guaranteed to get you moving to our pulsating carnival rhythms.  No one can resist the huge sound of our drummers playing their contagious brand of Afro-Brazilian percussion.  Patterned after Brazilian carnaval percussion orchestras with up to 300 musicians, Sambatucada! is a Vermont scale version of the traditional community baterias and blocos of Rio de Janeiro and Salvador.  Founded in 1995, Sambatucada! has become well known all over northern and central Vermont for exciting performances at parades, festivals, community events and celebrations of every conceivable variety. Hear us on Facebook and ReverbNation, or visit us at www.sambatucada.org.

Brass Balagan is a radical street band from Burlington, VT.  Founded in 2010, we demand the elimination of all evil.  We perform mainly for anti-imperialist causes, but are also available for birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, shopping mall ribbon-cutting ceremonies, corporate functions, and gun shows. We are eternally recruiting new members. Please find us on Facebook

Community Workshops 2015

We have reached the end of our community workshop program for 2015 – it’s been a fantastic ride filled with creativity and excitement for this year’s parade.
We held workshops in 3 locations: Waterbury, Stowe and Bolton with close to 60 attendees. Images from the Waterbury, Stowe and Bolton workshops below!

It was a busy day at the Helen Day Art Center

David Moody close to finishing

Bolton art teacher Kim Aucter with her beautiful luminary

Bolton workshop participants

Ryan and Katie at the Stowe workshop

Emily gets into the swing of things

Shelby and Livia at the Stowe session

focus and concentration from Seth and Aida

Waterbury got off to a serious start

Steve and Alice worked together to make their lanterns

using bug drawings as reference material

Jo Ann and Reese make some beautiful luminaries

Thatcher Brook Teachers get creative…

The teachers at Thatcher Brook Primary School were invited to an after-school lantern making session earlier this week; incredibly, 26 teachers showed up to create a luminary for this year’s River of Light – an all-time record!
But Mandy Couturier has to win the prize for the most inspired take on the theme of BUGS!, with her depiction of some beetles 🙂

Mandy’s beetle mania

Teachers’ after-school workshop

 

Walk of the Fireflies

Over the past two weeks, 3rd and 4th graders at Thatcher Brook Primary School have been working with artist Gowri Savoor, during a very special residency to create fireflies for an interactive light installation.
Using recycled bottles and containers from the school cafeteria, our talented students have created some spectacular bugs. Look out for them at the Walk of the Fireflies this year at Dac Rowe Park, for this year’s River of Light finale.

Emerging artists at Thatcher Brook Primary School

A selection of 3rd and 4th grade artists  at Thatcher Brook Primary School had the opportunity to design and build some large-scale lanterns this week. They went through the entire creative process; brainstorming, drawing, designing, collaborating and finally building. Modifying lanterns built during previous workshops, our talented crew came up with a spider, a ladybird, a dragonfly and a butterfly.

Team butterfly

Team dragonfly

Emerging artist lanterns

team ladybird rising to the challenge

team spider hard at work

the spider grows..