Coming Soon: Winter Lights Lantern Festival / Holiday CircleFest

As our thermostats drop and the end of daylight savings time approaches, the festive colors and sounds and the jubilant community atmosphere of June’s Parade the Circle may seem like distant memories. But in just a few weeks, the museum will offer another opportunity for community celebration as preparations begin for the 18th Annual Winter Lights Lantern Festival, a month-long indoor/outdoor festival of lights that includes a lantern parade—open to the public and complete with music, puppets, and dancers—that will be take place as part of University Circle’s Holiday CircleFest on Sunday, December 4. [1]Guided workshops in the upcoming weeks offer the chance to create your own lantern and join in the fun. Preparatory workshops [2] during the month of November invite community members to build sophisticated batik [3] lanterns under the direction of the museum’s Community Arts artistic director Robin VanLear. Or, attend a free session from 2:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. on the! day of Holiday CircleFest itself for the chance to construct a simple lantern to carry in that evening’s parade. The procession begins at 5:30 p.m. from the museum’s north entrance and will make its way toward the professional Environment of Lights lantern installation on Wade Oval. This outdoor installation, as well as artists’ lantern displays inside the museum, will remain on view throughout December. [4]                           This procession of lights on the evening of Sunday, December 4 represents the culmination of a day of activities at the museum [5] being held in conjunction with University Circle’s Holiday CircleFest. Activities at the museum include the China Art Cart, a Chinese painting demonstration, an opportunity to use technology to picture yourself in CMA works of art, gallery tours, food, shopping and more. Many University Circle institutions will offer shopping, snacks, and family-friendly activities as part of this day-long event, which will also mark the opening of the free Rink at Wade Oval [6]. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to explore the Circle a! nd to fill your holiday season with light.