INDIANAPOLIS —Mark your calendar for the annual Feast of Lanterns on August 24 at Spades Park on the near eastside of Indianapolis. The feast will be held between 4 p.m. and 11 p.m.
The Near East Side Community Organization proudly presents an annual Feast of Lanterns, a beautiful century old outdoor event, in the 1800 block of Nowland Ave., Spades Park. The Feast offers up a day for the family with many local vendors, food, a lantern auction, original art, and lots of great activities for kids including games, and hands-on projects. Live music continues throughout the day, and into the evening. As dusk falls, the ceremonial lighting of hundreds of lanterns creates a summer wonderland in the park. It is a not-to-be-missed sight.
The music line-up includes Kyle Billingsley at 3:45, Chris Dance and the Holy Echo at 4:45, Deadbeat Sailors at 5:45, Silver Dollar Family Band at 6:50, The ‘Rents at 7:55, and The Bonesetters at 9:15.
This will be the 12th year for the resurrected Feast of Lanterns, which was celebrated for many years, then forgotten until 2002. The NESCO neighborhoods decided to bring the Feast back to Spades Park, and it has grown every year since its re-launch.
The first Feast of Lanterns took place in 1909, when residents of the Brookside neighborhood strung thousands of paper lanterns in Spades Park, lighting them with candles. Homeowners decked out their porches with lanterns as well. The tradition continued until World War I, when interest in the event waned. In 2003, neighbors in Windsor Park and Springdale revived the event after reading about it in an old newspaper clipping. Thus, the event was reborn under the direction of the Near Eastside Community Organization (NESCO).
This year, about 5,000 people are expected to attend. Volunteers make the event possible, and people on the near eastside have been working hard to maintain the event the past few years. Visit the NESCO booth at the Feast and volunteer for one of their many projects throughout the year or visit nescocommunity.org.
