Ever since I watched Tangled, I've dreamed of seeing Chinese lanterns released into a night sky. I had honestly never heard of that happening in America and had this crazy idea that I'd have to travel thousands of miles to ever see it happen.
However.
One day, I saw an article on Facebook for Lantern Fest 2015 and lo and behold.......they were coming to Wichita! Woot, woot! I was SO excited. Me, Nick, Brooke, Michael and Whitney made plans to go at the end of May. We registered early so we only had to pay $25 a ticket, which I was still hesitant to pay since we'd never been.
Unfortunately, the weather was bad and the event got rescheduled. I was bummed, but then I started reading reviews online about Lantern Fest (they hold events all over the nation) and got even more bummed. SO many people were talking about how unorganized it was and that it was a rip off, etc. I was REALLY hoping we hadn't just wasted $50.
It got rescheduled to July 11th. The weather was PERFECT, so I figured even if the event was horrible, we'd have a nice evening outside and I'd get to spend quality time with this guy.....
When we got there, there were a lot of people, but the parking wasn't too bad and the area was huge, so it wasn't crammed. There was a tent to sign in where you just gave them your name and they gave you the supplies. I thought it was extremely organized and was happy to see everyone that complained about it was wrong!
We got these cute boxes that had the ingredients to make 4 smores, it had a little flashlight, a lighter and a sharpie to decorate your lantern.
The lanterns were HUGE! I didn't think they'd be that big, but they went from the top of my head almost down to my knees! I wrote a message to my two favorite angels...........
However.
One day, I saw an article on Facebook for Lantern Fest 2015 and lo and behold.......they were coming to Wichita! Woot, woot! I was SO excited. Me, Nick, Brooke, Michael and Whitney made plans to go at the end of May. We registered early so we only had to pay $25 a ticket, which I was still hesitant to pay since we'd never been.
Unfortunately, the weather was bad and the event got rescheduled. I was bummed, but then I started reading reviews online about Lantern Fest (they hold events all over the nation) and got even more bummed. SO many people were talking about how unorganized it was and that it was a rip off, etc. I was REALLY hoping we hadn't just wasted $50.
It got rescheduled to July 11th. The weather was PERFECT, so I figured even if the event was horrible, we'd have a nice evening outside and I'd get to spend quality time with this guy.....
We got these cute boxes that had the ingredients to make 4 smores, it had a little flashlight, a lighter and a sharpie to decorate your lantern.
They played music and everyone just hung around until it got dark enough to light the lanterns. There was face painting for kids and they had a bunch of food trucks and drink stands. We got some homemade root beer ice cream and it was goooooood.
And then finally.....it was dark. And it was time to light the lanterns! We weren't exactly sure how to do it but found it works best to have one person hold the top of the lantern up and the other person try to light it. There's just this big black piece of.....something.....that you set on fire and it fuels the lantern to fly. It took a bit of time to get it going, but once it did.......it was SO beautiful.
It was truly one of the most awesome moments of my life. There are no words to describe it. The music they had playing was PERFECT for the moment and just seeing thousands of people with joy on their faces and watching all the lanterns float in the sky........magical. They only thing that would've made it better was if my kids were with me. It was a moment I'll never forget!
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