Culture Spark lantern parade ignites Chichester's city centre

An impressive display of willow lanterns were part of the parade – one of four headline ‘ignite’ events in the Culture Spark calendar.

This is a wonderful season of events, performances, live entertainment and community projects to celebrate a momentous year of art and culture in the Chichester district.

Festivities kicked off at 5pm in Priory Park with a placard-making workshop and whale storytelling show for children.

The lantern parade moved off at 6pm, weaving through the streets of Chichester, and culminating in a fiesta themed evening at Chichester Canal Basin.

There were performances by a professional samba band; a cabaret trio from the University of Chichester; local dance group Dance and Beyond; and West Sussex Choirs adding to the carnival atmosphere at the canal.

Also on hand was a range of street food.

The theme of the parade was environmental sustainability and more than 1,000 people from across the district were involved in creating lanterns decorated with flowers, animals and wildlife.

Chichester Festival Theatre gathered 16 local artists to learn how to create willow lanterns from Brighton-based expert lantern makers, Same Sky, before heading out into 28 schools and community groups to deliver lantern making workshops across the district.

The lanterns will now return to their hometowns in the district to be featured in their events, such as Petworth’s Fete in the Park on July 9.

Celebrations will be taking place this year to recognise 60 years of Chichester Festival Theatre; 40 years of Pallant House Gallery; 30 years of Chichester Cinema at New Park’s International Film Festival; 10 years of The Novium Museum and the Festival of Chichester; and even more impressively, 200 years of the Canal Trust!

The full programme of events can be found at www.thegreatsussexway.org/culture-spark-2022/