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A thing of beauty is a joy forever, it’s loveliness increases

It will never pass into nothingness

But still will keep a bower quiet for us and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams and health, and quiet breathing.

John Keats – Endymion 1818

Cultural celebrations bringing light to the darkness have taken place across the world for thousands of years, with festivals such as Diwali and Loy Krathong.

It was a joy to honour this time of entering into the dark half of the year with our first ever Festival of Light and Reflection in Boxmoor, Hemel, celebrating place and the wider communities of the natural world

On the 1st of November, Puddingstone Arts, in collaboration with the community in Hemel, curated a canalside lantern festival held at Fishery Wharf Cafe.

Community Based Workshops

We worked with schools and the HomEd community to create over 100 lanterns. It was lovely to see families working together to create handheld lanterns with our half-term workshops at Fishery Wharf Café completely sold out.

Large scale sculptures began to take shape during two making sessions for interested grown-up creatives, where an array of canalside characters were sculpted and brought to life through story.

Lanterns Galore – The mission was to build lanterns in the community to create a beautiful visual spectacle for all to enjoy. Using the banks of the Grand Union Canal as an installation space, co-creating a beautiful spectacle to uplift communities and provide opportunity for quality creative engagement. The rain poured, but the people came, and we shone our lights through the deluge.

We are so grateful to have worked with around 200 people to bring this project to life, creating lanterns, large scale sculptures or vounteering on event day. All made possibel with support from Community Action Dacorum through the Shared Prosperity Fund,

A really big thank you to all who braved the rain, our growing team of makers and creatives, Fishery Wharf for hosting and the team at Dacorum Borough Council. We have been delighted by the overall success of the project and have some very exciting lantern news coming soon.

Thank to all involved, we couldn’t have done it without you.

Love and lantern light, Kerry and Kate