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DiYVR is a weekly spotlight on all things handmade, done-by-oneself, crafted and hacked around Vancouver, featuring profiles of makers, event announcements, exhibits and general do-it-yourself fun. Know someone or something we should cover? Email me! |
Saturday, July 30th is the 22nd annual Illuminares Lantern Festival. It's sure to be one of the most magical evenings you'll spend in a summer filled with festivals, and it's also an opportunity to get your creative DIY on.
The event is put on by the Public Dreams organization, and I caught up with Managing Director Laura Grieco for a wee, five-question interview.
- The Illuminares Lantern Festival is a Vancouver institution, but it's possible some folks don't know about it. What's the skinny?
The Illuminares Lantern Festival 2011, now in its 22nd year, is a series of glowing handmade lantern processions, creative workshops, performances and fantastical happenings. All of the elements combine to celebrate community cooperation, creative expression and revelry. It is one of the most beloved and well-attended festivals in Vancouver, now at a new location along the Coal Harbour seawall and outside Canada Place.
- Can people bring their own lanterns? What should they be like? Does it matter?
Yes - the magic of Illuminares is not what we do but what the people of Vancouver do! People can make their own lanterns at one of our eight lantern-making workshops around town. If they can’t make it out to a workshop, they can download our lantern-making PDF or search online for more info. The only criteria for lanterns is perhaps to use your imagination but even more so to just do it! Last year, before I started at Public Dreams, with my kids I made a two-sided lady’s face with coat hangers, tissue paper, paint, wire, and glue. Or just use a tin can and punch holes in it - even a milk-carton can make a lantern. The idea is that we are all lighting the night for each other, sharing our light and our creativity with friends and strangers from across the city!
- What three tips would you give someone who's interested in making their first paper lantern?
Three tips for making a paper lantern – have a look at the PDF.
Tip#1: Glue guns are your friend – it’s a lot easier with a glue gun and you can do some really neat stuff with them. But you DIYers know that already!
Tip#2: Make sure the light source (with flame in particular) is secured low down enough in your lantern to prevent the lantern igniting or your glue melting. LED tealights make the practicalities of illumination easier (particularly high powered ones) BUT make sure you have enough on hand to deal with battery outage and make up for the weaker source of light.
Tip#3: Free your imagination – get creative with what you have around the house - shower curtains, tin cans, milk jugs, lamp shades, old telephones have all be used to create some kind of lantern. The basics of stars, boxes, tin cans, and balloon lanterns are great stand-by’s though too!
- Say you're marooned on a deserted island with nothing but a thirty-foot illuminated heron. Would it be adequate company while you wait for rescue, or would you dismantle it for shelter?
It wouldn’t make a terribly good shelter because the fabric covering allows the wind through it so we can perform it most easily! If it came with the dozen people required to animate it, it would make great company and maybe we could even all get it flying for us to fly off the island!
- What other kinds of events does Public Dreams put on that might appeal to DIYers?
Public Dreams has several events throughout the year that DIYers might be interested in. Parade of Lost Souls, on October 29th, is well known as the best street party in Vancouver but this last year we’ve really changed the focus to getting community involvement to make/create/perform/install their own pieces along the route. We’re also involved with Lunar Fest celebrating the Lunar new year on the first 2 Saturdays in February. We run a procession down Granville as well as craft and performance programming at the LunarFest site. And finally, there is our annual A MidSummer’s Fete in June where DIY’ers can participate in ephemeral and eco-art making!
We're going to take the baby to Illuminares – I had no idea it starts early enough that we can go and still get him to bed on time. Glass-jar lantern-making, here I come.
If you've made a lantern before, share your tips in the comments!
Illuminares Lantern Festival
Saturday, July 30th, 6-10PM
Canada Place
