Sharrow Lantern Carnival

IMC-Sheffield & Sheffield Social Forum | 01.04.2004 11:04 | Sheffield

The first morning of British Summer Time dawned bright and clear, which made a change from the high winds and intermittent rain that postponed the lantern parade. It was originally meant to take place on the 21st of March. The Creative Action Network (CAN) had originally devised this parade to celebrate the vernal equinox, mothers (and mother earth) day, and to acknowledge the first anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. Although the significant date had passed, the morning sun reminded us to "Wake up, Rise up, Stand up" as the posters proclaimed. Weeks of workshops with artists, students, schoolchildren, families and anyone else who showed an interest could be seen on the graffiti-adorned basketball court at Mount Pleasant Park. Lanterns stretched across the tarmac and were picked up, put on, and lit by participants and stewards.

A day-glo pink marabou-lined pram carried a speaker to provide the beats at the back, and the Sheffield Samba Band struck up the march at the front. The middle of the beast that began to snake its way through Sharrow was made up of lanterns, poi, bicycles, tricycles, and people of all shapes and sizes. As it progressed, the parade had everyone out of their front doors, and leaning out of their tower block windows. It could have been any community or neighbourhood in any city in the world. Children called out from balconies and got smiles and waves in return. A little boy asked a poi-twirler how to spin, and learned how to make his own poi. Bus passengers got an eyeful and most returned the grins. The traffic stopped, and red-amber-green was ignored. The only lights that mattered were the ones belonging to mermaids and centaurs, horned gods, fish, dragonflies and other creatures. Beautiful lanterns weaved through Sharrow, reclaiming the roads for a brief moment with something that no body could ignore, and that nobody could fail to smile at.

Reports: The Lantern Carnival: was it political?

Photos: Moment for Peace at Lantern Festival [ 1 ] Sharrow Lantern Procession Photos [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 ] Pics from the Sharrow Lantern Carnival [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 ] [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 ]

Video: video from sharrow lantern carnival | more video from the lantern carnival

Sharrow Lantern Procession

The carnival was a magical event and a true symbol for peace. It made Gil Scott-Heron's lyrics real once again:

You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

(...)

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live."

Well the lantern parade may not be a revolution but it certainly wasn't televised or covered by the mainstream media. This lack of coverage, of what was a fairly large and significant event, made it even more of a community event - it belonged to us.

Gill Scott Heron's song is not only linked with the cover text of SSF launch leaflet - the leaflet’s text is a reworking of the song’s lyrics. One cannot help referring to poetry when trying to describe the night.

The parade gathered participants until the very end. The finale was the moment of silence for peace followed by an amazing light show of fire breathers, fire jugglers, smoke and flares. After the this show many congregated in the general cemetery helped themselves to soup and snacks which were on offer thanks to the crew from Brambles housing co-op.

The parade could be seen as just the tip of an iceberg - what lay underneath were all the relationships and friends made, all the people who had been making lanterns together in front rooms and community centres and church halls around Sharrow for months. Webs of connections that didn't exist before emerged on this day in a beautiful and positive way. Time springs ahead. For a weekend that was one hour short, Sheffield managed to get in two amazingly powerful events. Let's hope the illuminating ideas of Saturday and the symbolic lights of Sunday combine with the lengthening days of spring and summer to spark off an exponential number of comminities, ideas, and future action!

UK Indymedia

Sharrow Lantern Carnival

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