#Newsflash | Queens Hosts a Water Lantern Festival on June 4
BY QEDC It's In Queens
Design lanterns with messages of happiness, hope, love, and peace. Then launch them into the water as the sun sets and watch them connect.
This might sound like the ending of a Hollywood movie, but it’s actually the Flushing Meadows Corona Park version of the international Water Lantern Festival on Saturday, June 4, at 5:30 pm.
The program includes food trucks, games, activities, live music and the beauty of floating light in the vicinity of Fountain of the Planets between Grand Central Parkway and Van Wyck Expressway. Here’s the schedule: 5:30 pm, gates open; 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm, food trucks, music, fun; 8 pm, lantern design; 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm, lantern launch; and 9:30 pm, event ends.
Admission to the Water Lantern Festival runs from free to $25.99 per person. Each purchaser receives a wristband for access to the festival area, a floating lantern kit, an LED candle, a commemorative drawstring bag, and a marker.
Environmentalists can rest assured that the Water Lantern Festival has a “leave no trace” policy. The lanterns are made from rice paper, and staffers will collect them following the launch. They will also remove additional trash and leave the area cleaner than before the event. Plus, they will recycle and reuse LED candles whenever possible.
The Water Lantern Festival began in 2018 with events in 34 cities and about 130,000 participants. Since then, it’s expanded to more than 100 cities, including ones in Canada and Mexico.