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Students get ready for lantern festival

Over 200 local students spent time in The Arts Station last week creating works of art for the upcoming Fernie Lantern Festival.
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Fernie Academy students get a lesson in lantern building for the upcoming Fernie Lantern Festival.

Over 200 local students spent time in The Arts Station last week creating works of art for the upcoming Fernie Lantern Festival. Kids of all ages from Isabella Dicken Elementary, Fernie Academy, and Fernie Secondary School will be contributing to a large display that will celebrate the festival’s theme, rivers on fire.

“The kids are each making a lantern that will be donated to us, and then we’re making a big installation,” explained Jenn Woods with The Arts Station. “On the night of the festival we’re going to assemble all the lanterns into a river scene. These guys are making all the little fish, so it’s like a school of fish scene, and it’s going to stretch along the deck and there’s going to be lots and lots of lights.”

Woods added, “It’s nice that all of the students can be involved in a little way.”

The preschoolers are creating water, students in grade four and under are in charge of fish paper kite lanterns, and the older kids will build larger bamboo framed lanterns.

Elementary students took over The Arts Station last week to start building and it’s the high school kids’ turn this week. The Arts Station will host community build nights throughout November leading up to the festival to give all members of the community a chance to create their own lantern.

This is the second bi-annual Fernie Lantern Festival and Woods said there have been a few changes made since the first. “The festival this year will be bit different than last time because it will be centered here [at The Arts Station]. The parade will go down Main Street, and then here will be all the different installation lanterns, and fire bins to warm people up, and hot chocolate.”

The Rivers on Fire Lantern Festival is taking place on November 24 and will also feature live entertainment, and of course, fireworks at the end of the night to wrap up the celebration.