Back for its 14th year, the Art on the Atlanta BeltLine Lantern Festival set for Saturday, May 11. Hosted by Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI), this festival celebrates the bright creativity and community that Atlanta’s historic neighborhoods are known for.
“I believe we have a common calling to delight one another. To see the people we share a community with as playful volumes of light, and to be witnessed as such, does a body good. It is restorative. It is collective joy, and we need it. Your creative play is a gift to our city,” said Chantelle Rytter, founder of the Art on the Atlanta BeltLine Lantern Festival.
Among other creative projects by ABI, the Lantern Festival is one of the Atlanta BeltLine’s longest-running events. The festivities started small in 2010, bringing just a few hundred people. After over a decade of growth, the festival now welcomes tens of thousands of lantern enthusiasts from Atlanta and beyond.
Rytter and her “Krew of the Grateful Gluttons” build and operate 100+ lanterns for the annual festival, but community members are encouraged to get involved too! To participate in festivities, each visitor must bring his or her own lantern. This year, five marching bands will be joining the fun: Atlanta Drum Academy, Black Sheep Ensemble, Seed & Feed Marching Abominable, Atlanta Freedom Band, Wasted Potential Brass Band and Grammy-Award winning artist Kebbi Williams and the Wolfpack.
The “Krew,” marching bands and community members walk the one-mile parade route, along the BeltLine’s Westside Trail, from Adair Park I to mixed-use destination, Lee + White. This unique parade is like no other, adding color and sound to downtown Atlanta and surrounding areas.
Line-up begins at 7:45 p.m. and the parade will start at 8:45 p.m. At the parade’s completion, visitors are encouraged to stay for the All-Band-Puppet-Jam afterparty and meet-and-greet with the giant lantern puppets and marching bands until 10 p.m.
No experience with lanterns, but looking to learn? Rytter is hosting lantern-making workshops April 19 through May 8. These workshops are open to the public and range in experience levels from beginner to advanced. Fees depend on the workshop and can be found on her website.
The Art on the Atlanta BeltLine Lantern Festival is hosted by Lee + White, Ackerman & Co. and MDH Partners. The festival is sponsored by several Atlanta companies, including Delta Air Lines, Norfolk Southern, Northside Hospital, Ponce City Market, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Kaiser Permanente.
As one of the most vast, temporary outdoor art exhibitions in the south, Art on the Atlanta BeltLine touches almost 20 intown Atlanta communities. The exhibition invites artists of all backgrounds, mediums, and professions to fill the corridor with art installations like no other. BeltLine Walls (murals), BeltLine Spaces (sculptures), BeltLine Flow (performance series) and more special projects.
The Art on the Atlanta BeltLine’s Public Art residency program encourages individuals to come together and create a collaborative environment for visitors to enjoy. Featured this year are Nadiya Zeitlin (Artist-in-Residence), Shay Welch (Scholar-in-Residence), Rachel Parish (Scholar-in-Residence) and EuGene V. Byrd III (Curator-in-Residence).
The Art on the Atlanta BeltLine Lantern Festival will wind through a portion of this creatively rich landscape, but ABI encourages festival-goers to visit again for a deeper look at the diverse art offerings found on the Atlanta BeltLine.
This festival is a high-traffic event, so visitors are encouraged to carpool, take MARTA transportation or bike to the event.
Stay abreast of Art on the Atlanta BeltLine announcements and events at art.beltline.org, or follow us on social media:
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