Festival of the Dead lantern parade lights up sky

Hundreds of handmade lanterns have been used to illuminate the night sky in Bradford to celebrate life and remember loved ones.

Families were invited to lantern-making workshops at Cartwright Hall in Bradford and Shipley Library throughout half-term before the evening parade at Lister Park on Friday, which included giant puppets and live music.

Organised by Cecil Green Arts, the University of Bradford and Bradford Death Cafes, this year's event was part of the Festivals of the Dead project, encouraging people to share experiences of death, grief and remembrance.

Katie Jones, from Cecil Green Arts, said the event was a "celebration of life" as well as an opportunity to remember loved ones.

"It's a conversation that is obviously really difficult," she said.

"Nobody really likes talking about death and dying, but it happens to everybody and we think it's really good to try and open up those conversations and remember people.

"Some people will have made lanterns for specific people they're remembering and other people will have just made something to have fun."

The parade is an annual event, but last year's took place on a smaller scale in Northcliffe Woods in Shipley due to lack of funding.

This year, Cecil Green Arts received a grant from Arts Council England which meant it could return to Lister Park.

"For some people, it's just a reason to be creative and to just have some fun with some willow and some paper," Jones said.

"But other people really delved into issues relating to death and grief and just remembering people that are no longer around."

Jones added that people were "really grateful to have a space to do that".

"For some - obviously you can remember people with family - but sometimes it's also quite nice to just have a more neutral space to have that conversation", she said.

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