Written by Leila Scott, Photos by Kendra Frankle and Patrick Cox
On Saturday, March 9, 1000 Water Lanterns were released onto Lake Mayer. The festival was the first to be held in Savannah, welcoming the community to decorate the lanterns with their wishes and hopes.
The idea for the festival came from director, Zach Wertz. Volunteer, Cassidy Heaton, spoke about Wertz’ inspiration, “my boyfriend and his friends thought of the idea last year. They’d seen the lantern festivals that go in the air and thought it’d be awesome if they could do water lanterns.” Heaton continued on saying they wanted an event that could “breed love, inspiration and hope for the community.”
Wertz explained his intention for creating the festival, “the biggest thing I hope people can gain from this event is that even though life is hard, during the launch we can reflect and forget about all the problems and give people a small sliver of hope.”
The event included live music, food trucks and supplies for family and friends to write messages on their lanterns before they were set across the water. “People write powerful messages on their lanterns such as dreams and passions, or they release them in memory of those who have passed,” Heaton said. Heaton loved and appreciated being a part of an event that’s so inspiring to others.
Many volunteers were needed in order to make the festival happen. Beverly Hollingsworth, volunteer, said, “it’s so magical and beautiful––I’ve never seen [anything like] it before.” She spent all day Thursday putting the lanterns together for the event. “It’s enchanting being here around all these people.”
Hayden, volunteer, said, “I think events like this are so cool because we live in a world that’s filled with competing ideas, but here we can come together to do something inspiring. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you believe.”
The festival team’s chief aim was to create a wonderful and eco-friendly event for the community. Designed from rice paper, all lanterns left a minute carbon footprint on the environment.
Click here to learn more about the 1000 Lights Water Lantern Festival.
