Lanterns in a multitude of shapes, candle-lit and suspended above the crowd, add a special magic to any evening event. They may be created to order, or built in workshops by the participants, from willow branches or wire and covered with durable translucent paper or grid cloth.

Kathleen Doody began creating lanterns with the British theatre company Welfare State International at a theatre festival years ago while living in Kyoto, Japan. Since that time, her lanterns have been part of outdoor productions, installations and parades on Toronto Island, and in the city of Toronto, in Ireland and the USA. 

For over 20 years she organized a lantern parade on Ward’s Island, Toronto. Community workshops where people could make their own lanterns led up to the event: parading with hundreds of others, through the community, to the celebrations on the beach.