Make your own lantern for a special night in Katikati

Light up your life with lantern making before the Lanterns and Lights Parade Night.

Katikati will be lit up like a Christmas tree next month.

Don't worry, it's not Christmas yet, but town promoters are preparing for another special night of lights and entertainment for Katikati residents in late July.

Katch Katikati is organising the Lanterns and Lights Parade Night from Kotahi Lane to Katikati centre where people can create their own lanterns, and then show off their glow-in-the-dark creations. The parade will lead to Main St, which will be buzzing with street entertainment and outdoor eateries.

But first, people need to be taught how to make the lanterns in order to show them off on the special night.

The lanterns and lights event includes free workshops run by Hawke's Bay lantern maker Ally Rogers.

People of all ages can learn how to make a fish or decorative lantern and join the lantern parade.

"The concept for a lantern parade has been on our radar for a while," says Katch Katikati manager Jacqui Knight.

"The Katikati Festival of Arts theme of Lighting up the Town was the perfect fit and timing to make it happen, although it was postponed from 2021 due to Covid-19."

Jacqui hopes the lantern parade will become a biennial event for the town. There are also "train the teacher" master classes to tutor others for the next event and pass on their lantern-making skills, she says.

Jackie Knight with fish lanterns.

Ally's first solo community lantern festival was in Papamoa in 2011, and she now runs community art events all over the country.

"I love community building using art," she says. "I'm art obsessed and love helping people express themselves creatively."

The master classes start in early July where attendees are taught how to teach others to make lanterns via Zoom. The free master classes are held on July 3 from 10am–noon and July 4-5 from 7pm-9pm.

Free lantern-making workshops for the public are on July 18 from 6pm-9pm, July 19-20 from 9am-noon, 1pm-4pm, 6pm-9pm, and July 21 from 9am-noon, 1pm-4pm.

Workshops are for everyone - any age, ability, or experience. Ally says lantern making is a simple, easy, beginner-level craft.

What: Lanterns and Lights Parade Night
Where: Kotahi Lane to Katikati township
When: July 22 at 5pm
Master classes and lantern-making workshops held throughout July, register for workshops at www.katikatifestivalofarts.org.nz/lanterns