In 2019, Hilton Head’s lantern parade lit up the beach. Here’s the plan for this year

Over 1,800 Hilton Head Islanders paraded the beach last year in a lantern parade that lit up the night.

This year, the parade will be spread throughout the island as organizers plan a “parade in place” to promote social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Hilton Head Island Lantern Parade is scheduled for Nov. 5 through Nov. 7, when participants can light up their driveways, yards, balconies or doorsteps with their homemade lanterns.

The town will have an online map for people to register their lanterns so their neighbors can know where to view them, according to Director of Cultural Affairs Jenn McEwen.

Participants can view the map and sign up at CultureHHI.org/Register-Your-Lantern.

This is the second year of the Lantern Parade, a free event that celebrates the history, ecology and people of Hilton Head Island. Last year, people made lanterns that looked like Lowcountry boils, Mitchelville cabins, sea turtles and lighthouses.

Lead artist Chantelle Rytter, who created the Lantern Parade concept, and her “Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons” will be out at a different location each night during the “parade” for a drive-thru spectacle of light. The public is invited to drive-thru to view the large glowing puppets in action by the puppeteers.

Approximately a dozen glowing lanterns varying in size from five to 14 feet will be on display each night from 7 to 8 p.m. at the following locations:

• Thursday, Nov. 5 at the Coastal Discovery Museum, 70 Honey Horn Drive.
• Friday, Nov. 6 at Hilton Head Island Fire Station 3, 534 William Hilton Parkway (next to the First Presbyterian Church).
• Saturday, Nov. 7 at the Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park, 226 Beach City Road.

Lantern-making kits are available at the Coastal Discovery Museum and the Art League of Hilton Head Gallery at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina. Flying lanterns are prohibited in the state of South Carolina.

For more information and logistics about the Lantern Parade, visit culturehhi.org/lanternparade or on Facebook at @CultureHHI.

This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 11:26 AM.

Katherine Kokal

The Island Packet

843-560-9158

Katherine Kokal graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and joined The Island Packet newsroom in 2018. Before moving to the Lowcountry, she worked as an interviewer and translator at a nonprofit in Barcelona and at two NPR member stations. At The Island Packet, Katherine covers Hilton Head Island’s government, environment, development, beaches and the all-important Loggerhead Sea Turtle. She has earned South Carolina Press Association Awards for in-depth reporting, government beat reporting, business beat reporting, growth and development reporting, food writing and for her use of social media.