Wingham Winter Solstice Lantern Walk
Mali and Tess Hoadley making lotus lanterns at the 2017 Winter Solstice Lantern Walk lantern making workshop.
The Winter Solstice Lantern Walk takes place on the evening of the winter solstice (or as close to as possible) every year through Wingham Brush Nature Reserve, the home of a major roosting and maternity site for the threatened grey-headed flying fox. After leaving the Brush, the walkers make their way to the town green.
The lantern walk is a free, family-focused community event with the aim of raising awareness for the Manning River turtle.
The inaugural Winter Solstice Lantern Walk in Wingham was born in 2017 with 150 to 200 people attending. The 2018 lantern walk attracted that many people again, and it has now become a regular annual event on the Wingham calendar.
The Lantern Walk would not have eventuated without the assistance of the Wingham Chamber of Commerce, who spearheaded, along with JOC Consulting and funded by MidCoast, the Wingham Place Making Project. Chamber kindly allocated funds for the land lantern making workshops, as well as prize money for a Manning River Turtle Colouring In and Art Competition. The Lantern Walk took place as part of the Wingham Activation Blitz Weekend.
Chamber again donated funds to MRTCG in 2018 to assist with the lantern making workshops and art competition.
In 2018, local artists Jane Hosking and Rachel Piercy created a giant Manning River Turtle lantern, which we have dubbed our ‘spirit turtle’. They gifted the turtle to MRTCG on the day of the lantern walk and it is now housed in a secret location.
