BeltLine: Eastside Trail has grown too much for Lantern Parade Josh Green Fri, 03/29/2024 - 15:21 For better or worse, the days of a full-blown Lantern Parade on the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail appear to be a thing of the past.
On the bright side, the luminous Atlanta tradition—one of the city’s longest-running events now, in fact—is set in stone for early May in Southwest Atlanta, with a more eventful, celebratory schedule than ever.
Described as a “beloved Atlanta celebration of creativity, community, and light" with giant glowing puppets and marching bands, the grassroots parade had humble beginnings in 2010, when a few hundred creative souls marched with LED lanterns down the shoddy dirt railroad corridor that’s become the Eastside Trail—with no spectators on the sidelines. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lantern Parade was drawing estimated crowds of 70,000 annually to the Eastside Trail, solidify itself as a unique local tradition alongside the Dogwood Festival, Streets Alive, and Inman Park Festival, among others.
The pandemic paused the parade for two years, but in 2022 it reemerged on the flipside of town, illuminating a section of the BeltLine’s Westside Trail beginning in Adair Park. That’s where it will return May 11.
The Lantern Parade's Eastside Trail takeover. Shutterstock
When asked this week if the Lantern Parade might one day return to the BeltLine’s most patronized stretch of pathway, a project representative provided the following statement: “The Eastside Trail has grown significantly since the Lantern Parade was created in 2010, as has the parade itself, which currently attracts tens of thousands,” reads an email to Urbanize Atlanta. “To maintain the integrity of the event while also considering the daily activity and traffic of the highly traveled Eastside Trail, the event has transitioned to the Westside Trail.”
That doesn’t mean the Eastside Trail will see no lanterns in 2024.
Sometime this fall, the BeltLine will present the second incarnation of “Where the Weird Things Are.” That’s described as a smaller lantern event, also created and curated by Chantelle Rytter and her Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons, that will occupy a portion of the Eastside Trail. The date for that event, according to BeltLine reps, will be announced soon.
The Lantern Parade's Westside Trail debut in 2022. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
Meanwhile, the 14th installment of the full Lantern Parade (yes, 14 years), will step off at 8:45 p.m. May 11 at Adair Park I (742 Catherine St. SW). It’s being sponsored by the Lee + White district, and its developers and owners Ackerman and Co. and MDH Partners.
Expect five marching bands this year and a large crowd; an estimated 15,000 spectators and participants came in 2023, per the BeltLine.
The parade will end in the parking lot of Lee + White for what’s being billed as an“All-Band-Puppet-Jam,” where everyone’s encouraged to dance with the bands and take photos with the Krewe’s towering puppets.
The BeltLine recommends taking MARTA to the nearby West End station, biking, or using ride-share to attend the Lantern Parade, as parking will be limited.
Find more details on puppet-making workshops for the general public, the parade route, and more over here.
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The Lantern Parade's Westside Trail debut in 2022. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
Crowds before step-off in 2022. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
A much smaller procession in 2013—the first parade year after the Eastside Trail’s initial section was completed.Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
The grassroots arts initiative had grown to an event with 70,000 spectators before the COVID-19 pandemic. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
The Lantern Parade's Eastside Trail takeover. Shutterstock
Subtitle Luminous ATL tradition will return to Westside Trail in May, with smaller fall event planned for eastside
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