News / bedminster lantern parade
Bedminster Lantern Parade postponed over fears of Omicron variant
One of the largest and most vibrant community events in South Bristol has been put on hold over fears of the increasing numbers of Omicron infections in Bristol.
Bedminster Winter Lantern Parade, lovingly coined ‘Bemmy Lanterns’, has already been cancelled in 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions in place at the time.
This year’s parade, which has only grown in popularity and entertainment-level since its first iteration over a decade ago, was originally due to take place on Saturday.
is needed now More than ever
However, organisers have now announced that the event has been pushed back by over a month in order to keep the Bedminster community “as safe as possible”.
The parade in 2020 featured some incredible artisitic creations – photo by Bedminster Winter Lantern Parade
Bemmy Lanterns started out 11 years ago as a small but strongly community-spirited lantern parade traipsing through the heart of Bedminister with the Acta Centre.
Having grown to include dance troupes, bands and increasingly impressive hand-crafted lanterns, today the huge parade has become a rite of passage in BS3.
After careful consideration, organisers have made the ‘difficult’ decision to move the event to February 12.
Ade Williams, Chair of Bedminster Winter Lantern Parade Project Steering Group, said in a statement: “Our priority has to be on keeping our Bedminster community as safe as possible at this challenging time and we therefore decided to move the event to 12th February.”
“I’d like to thank you for all your support and hard work in getting behind the project this far and I want to reassure you that together with the project team, many volunteers, schools and businesses across BS3, we’re now focusing on putting on a splendid event in February.”
“We will share more details about this as soon as the plans are confirmed and look forward to you being part of a delayed but just as wonderful community event.”
Main photo courtesy of Bedminister Winter Lantern Parade
Read more: A chance to see the laterns before the Bedminster parade
Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
