Hundreds of paper lanterns made by volunteers for Luminata night parade

Fall is just around the corner with less than two weeks of summer left. To celebrate the changing of seasons, the Fremont Arts Council is hosting Luminata — a light parade that goes around Green Lake on the last night of summer.

Susan Harper is the board president for the council and says the parade encourages people to be more in touch with the natural world.

“The ethic of celebrating the changes of the season together unites us and doing that with light and lanterns and your creativity is a great way to celebrate together. So September 21st is the equinox, so what better night to luminara around Green Lake?” Harper says.

At Luminata you'll see hundreds of hand-decorated paper lanterns made by dozens of volunteers. Mimi Noyes teaches people how to make them at a series of workshops.

“We want everyone to feel like they can be an artist. Once people have that freedom to do that and to not be stressed about it being perfect or exact, that creativity just naturally comes out and everybody’s lanterns always look completely different, even if they’re using the same kind of materials. So everyone finds their own creativity and everyone becomes their own kind of artist,” Noyes says.

All together the council expects to make 400 lanterns.

Lantern making workshops are going on now and the Lumniata parade starts at dusk on Thursday, September 21, at Green Lake.