Denver Lantern Festival

Countless lantern festivals are held across the country, but this year was the first time it made its way to Metro-Denver. The festival was held over the weekend, with more than 5,000 biodegradable paper lanterns expected to take flight each night. David and I jumped at the opportunity and quickly bought tickets for the second day – the first already sold out!
The festival was held at the Colorado National Speedway. Although we didn’t have tickets for the first night, it was so close to our house that we popped over and parked outside of the venue to watch the launch. A wind advisory had been issued earlier in the day, so we didn’t know whether the launch was even going to happen. But around 9pm, glowing lanterns started to trickle up above the speedway, followed by a continuous flow of hundreds. The lanterns flew right over our heads and twinkled off into the distance.

David and I arrived at the gate around 8pm the next evening. We were each given a s’mores kit along with our lanterns. There was still some time before the launch, so we sat in the bleachers, wrote our wishes on the lanterns, and watched the sun set behind the mountains. As the sky grew darker, we made our way to the middle of the speedway where families were huddled around the fire pits making s’mores and dancing to the live music. It felt like small town Americana. As big as this event was, it was simple – a community gathering in the middle of the plains, with the backdrop of a pumping oil jack and the sun setting over the Rocky Mountains. Anywhere else this event would have been surrounded with commercialism – being sponsored by a radio station, vendor tables selling merchandise, security at the gate checking bags. We felt so lucky to live here, and were able to enjoy experiences like this.

Finally, around 9pm, it was time. A man on the loud speaker told everyone to light their lanterns, and gave the countdown to release them all at once. In a matter of seconds, hundreds of lanterns lifted to the sky. David and I were mesmerized – it felt like we were in space, chasing the tail of a comet. Thousands of tiny flames levitated around us before the wind took over and carried them off over the Colorado plains. It was hard to pull our eyes away, but we didn’t want to forget to light our own! One by one, we watched our lanterns and the wishes they held float away and join the cloud of lights above.