Let The Sun Shine In
Have a piece of Handmade Parade history in your home!
$10/ticket enters you to win a piece of local, handmade history by Ali Givens, valued at $1200! All proceeds support the Hillsborough Arts Council and help ensure moments of magic like these in Hillsborough. Click here to learn more about the piece or click the button below to...
Winner will be announced Monday, June 27!
SOLSTICE LANTERN WALK
SEE YOU IN:
DEC 2022
WALK STARTS:
Eno River Farmers
Market Pavilion
Love the Solstice Lantern Walk?
Suggested Donation: $5
Your gift helps us create this and many of the wonderful events in Hillsborough, NC.
Supporting the arts is supporting Community!
Registration is required to attend.
Scroll down for registration form!
This event is free for the community, but we require registration to assist with managing crowd capacities in light of social distancing. Donations are welcome to help keep this free community event alive and strong! Thank you!
EVENT SAFETY
To ensure this event is as safe as possible for all participants, we do encourage vaccination prior to participation. We will require participants to wear masks in crowds and throughout the walk. Please be prepared to social distance between parties. If you feel sick, please stay home. Thank you for your help in reducing the spread of COVID-19 and ensuring future community gatherings!
WHERE TO PARK, MEET, WALK?
Parking is encouraged on the East side of town (to the right of Orange County Courthouse on map below) All entry to Riverwalk from Farmers Market Pavilion.
Overflow parking via parking deck.
Walk Start:
TBD
Eno River Farmers
Market Pavilion
WALK ROUTE
TO BE CONFIRMED
Please follow the procession, and do not attempt to join the walk from alternate entry points.
AFTER THE WALK!
After we light up the night for Solstice Lantern Walk, we'll join together for a special, end-of-walk celebration with music, gingerbread houses, and options for hot drinks, warm food, and more downtown fun!
DETAILS BELOW REFLECT LAST YEAR'S (2021)
END-OF-WALK CELEBRATION
SPOT THE GINGERBREAD HOUSES!
This year, HAC is collaborating with Homes for the Holidays, our local, Hillsborough gingerbread competition! Gingerbread structures from around the world are now on display in many local shop windows to be enjoyed by the entire community throughout the season!
Winning gingerbread houses will be awarded on solstice evening during our after-walk celebration!
Click the button below for a sneak peak of all the houses (now on display in downtown Hillsborough) and to vote for your favorite structure from around the world! Voting ends at 11:59 on Dec. 21, 2021.
Homes for the Holidays is collecting donations and will generously donate a portion of funds raised to support the missions of Orange Congregations in Mission (OCIM) and the Hillsborough Arts Council (HAC)!
MUSIC by Lagomorph Quartet!
The talented, 4-piece string band will serenade us with Irish and American old time tunes at the end-of-walk celebration on the Old Orange County Courthouse lawn!
Table offering pork chili, full-moon cookies, cold beverages, and hot chocolate on the sidewalk across from the old courthouse lawn! You can also find homemade bourbon eggnog and holiday cocktails inside!
Yonder's famous Hot Buttered Rum, Brandied Hot Cocoa, and Hot Toddies available all night until 11 PM!
Hot chocolate (dine-in or togo) for $3 and spiked, peppermint schnapps hot chocolate (in-house only) for $6!
WARM FOOD & HOT DRINKS!
IN TOWN EARLY?
Check out the following businesses & art galleries for perusing, gift shopping, & more!
HAC Gallery & Gift Shop
11-4 PM
Special solstice gallery show! Handmade jewelry, cookware, ornaments, scarves, journals, pens, cards, and more made by 60+ local artists!
Natalia Torres del Valle Gallery
4:30-8 PM
Framed works on paper as well as other mixed media pieces will be available for purchase in time for the holidays!
Media Arts Exchange
Studio will be open for an Open House!
Margaret Lane Gallery
11-7 PM
Artwork from over 35 local artists, including our Dreamflakes show. Lantern making craft activity for children on the front porch!
Carlisle & Linny Vintage Jewelry
12-7 PM
Open for shopping. Check out their gingerbread house and special seasonal window display!
2021 REGISTRATION CLOSED
STAY TUNED FOR 2022!
Suggested Donation: $5
This program is supported by the Orange County Arts Commission and by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
ABLE TO VOLUNTEER?
No experience or prior volunteering for HAC required. Volunteer Luminaries will help put out signage and ground lanterns, greet folks as they arrive to the Farmers Market Pavilion, stagger parties as the walk begins to encourage social distancing, light and lead along the path. The best part about volunteering at this event is that you get the BEST viewing spot in the house! This is an outdoor event at night time; volunteering does require a good amount of walking. Flashlights and/or extra bright lanterns are encouraged and some will be available as needed. Reflective vests will be provided.
Volunteers are needed just before the event for setup, during the walk, and tentatively for a rain date. Shifts are from 4:30-5 PM until roughly 7:30 PM. If you are interested in volunteering, please click the button below!
TIME TO MAKE YOUR LANTERN!
LANTERN KITS FOR SALE!
SOLD OUT
But don't worry! You can still make a beautiful, homemade lantern with easy-to-find supplies.
Click the button below for a supplies list and the instructions we included in our kits:
BYO LANTERN GUIDELINES:
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Have fun with it and get creative!
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Lanterns should be handmade and winter themed.
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Please use winter or star-colored lighting.
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No red or green LEDs. No flames.
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Bells and chimes are welcome.
SUPPLEMENTAL INSPO
Reminder, we are using LEDs (absolutely no flames allowed).
Stick with natural, organic LED colors, within the winter or star-colored spectrum. Let's bring the stars to the ground and brighten our path through the longest night of the year!
Want to protect your handmade lanterns?
Coat them with a clear aerosol lacquer spray to help protect them from the elements!
We can't wait to see what you come up with!!
WHAT IS THE SOLSTICE LANTERN WALK?
For Hillsborough, NC, solstice has become a special evening to gather together and usher in the peaceful quiet that the darker, colder months can bring. The Solstice Lantern Walk, which will take place at 5:45 PM on Tuesday, December 21, 2021, is a winter-themed event that encourages creativity and community participation!
Participants are asked to craft and bring a homemade lantern to light up the night with us along River Walk.
Participants will gather at the Eno River Farmers Market Pavilion and be led on a procession that ends back in downtown Hillsborough for a special end-of-walk celebration with music, hot drinks, warm food, gingerbread houses, and more!