Like many others, I missed the Catford South Kids’ Lantern Parade on 19 November when hundreds of children from surrounding primary schools and youth groups put on a show with a beautiful night time lantern parade to celebrate the season and local community.
The children taking part in the parade came from four local primary schools (Sandhurst, Torridon, Rushey Green, Holy Cross), as well as local Girl Guide and Scout Groups.
They were accompanied by parents, friends and family members, as they paraded the lanterns, which they had made themselves over the preceding weeks.
Starting at Sandhurst Primary School on Saturday 19th November the parade was accompanied throughout by drumming group, South London Samba. The parade ended with a performance from the schools’ choirs and a fire performer at Rushey Green Primary School.
The parade was organised by local Catford South resident, Martha O’Toole, who was inspired by a similar parade held annually in Chicago, USA.
Martha said: “The parade was magical and heart-warming. People from all corners of our diverse community came together to have fun and celebrate our children’s creativity. It was a delight to see all the happy faces both in the parade and the residents who came out of their homes to cheer and wave. All the young people had a really good time creating their lanterns which looked amazing when they were all lit up together.
“A big that you to all of our donors, as the parade would not have been possible without the generous support of L&Q, Lewisham Council, The Archibald Corbett Society, iPS London as well as the many individual donors from Catford South and beyond.”
Local resident, Teresa Crooks, said: “Thank you so much for an amazing event. So much hard work obviously went into bringing it all together. Very proud to live in such an amazing community. The drummers, fire dancer and kids singing were fantastic.”
The parade was funded by L&Q housing association, Lewisham Council, The Archibald Corbett Society, iPS London, as well as the community itself through crowdfunding on Spacehive.
The Lantern making workshops and materials were provided by Greenwich arts organisation, Emergency Exit Arts, in partnership with the Corbett Residents’ Association.
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