Chinese lanterns…the perfect accompaniment to London’s biggest and longest standing weekend festival, the notting Hill carnival. It’s that time of year again, the last, sunny bank holiday weekend in August, when we all bid farewell to the summer (what there was of it), and welcome in the autumn term. Celebrations all round.
The Notting Hill Carnival has been going since the 1960s, and was originally a means by which Afro-Caribbean communities could celebrate their own culture and traditions, and since then has gained a reputation as the most vibrant and lively street parties in Europe. At the heart of the Notting Hill festival, are the Caribbean carnivals of the early 19th century – a strong tradition in Trinidad – which were geared towards celebrating the abolition of slavery and the slave trade. The very first carnival was an attempt to showcase the steel band musicians who played at the Coleherne pub in Earls Court every Sunday. The band paraded through the street drawing out black residents from their homes an celebrating in shared memory of their homelands.
'ello, 'ello, what's going on here then?
Still that element of community, shared hope and euphoria pervade the carnival, and it’s always a memorable occassion for both those within and without the Caribbean culture. It’s a celebration of diversity and people more than anything else.
If you’re planning on going to Notting Hill this weekend, here are a few tips: Make sure you have a bottle of water on you at all times, have cash ready- no one wants to fuss around with chipping and pinning and you’ll never get to a cash point, wear comfy shoes and clothes- you’re likely to be doing a lot of walking, and take a camera. Most importantly, don’t forget to bring some chinese lanterns or sky lanterns along for the ride. The bright, spacious streets, uplifting music and over one million happy revellers, make for the perfect environment to release some lanterns into the sun kissed skies. It’s the ultimate celebratory event, not to be missed. In fact, I should probably get myself down there now…
Wishlantern.co.uk is your leading supplier of Chinese Lanterns for weddings and celebrations. We can be reached on 0845 500 1215 or by emailing the team sales@wishlantern.co.uk
Wish Lantern UK were pleased to be invited to a welcome to the world(christening with out the christ) of Milli Mohindra a few weeks ago. A last minute panic obviously ensued as we rushed around trying to find a suitable gift for the eight month old angel – with my wife naturally blaming me for forgetting to remind her!
A quick trip down to the office and we went armed with a large pack of Wish Lanterns to symbolise our hopes and wishes for Milli as she starts her life.
As you can see from the pictures below the lanterns were let off later in the evening – unfortunately after Millihad decided to rest her head for the night. Our full range of Christening lanterns is available at www.wishlantern.com.
Wish Lantern UK are proud to announce the launch of two new product lines – Halloween lanterns and Santa lanterns.
These product lines will be available at the end of September. More details and pictures will be posted online as they become available.
In the meantime to wet your collective appetites, we are previewing the new style inserts that will be in every lantern sold when our new stock arrives. The new inserts provide more detailed information on how to launch Wish Lanterns as well as a more fun image for our exciting new product lines.
For more information on our new products please email contact@wishlantern.co.uk. Retailers may download images below for point of sale usage.
The Herriot Hospice Homecare charity (now that rolls off the tongue nicely), are releasing sky lanterns in memory of a loved one to kick off their midnight walk around Richmond on the 12th September.
Wish Lantern Uk is all for supporting worthy causes, so when we heard of Heriot Hospice’s plans to do a midnight walk around Richmond to raise money for the charity’s ongoing good work, we felt it only right to get involved in whatever way possible. We;ve donated some wish lanterns to the organization, which will be released at 11.45pm, just before the 8 mile amble in September- and what a good idea it is too. There’s surely no better way to pay tribute to a loved one than to ignite a sky lantern and set it free to shed light across a beautiful skyline. It will no doubt get the walk off to a flying start as well!
We hope that our lanterns will provide an excellent starting point for these dedicated midnight ramblers, and we wish them well on their excursion. Watch this space for photos and videos of the event…
If you, Like Herriot Hospice, would like to pay tribute to a loved one with sky lanterns, please do get in touch. We can be reached on 0845 500 1215 or by emailing the team sales@wishlantern.co.uk
Here at WishLantern.co.uk we’re happy to announce a new range of chinese lanterns that we’re going to be selling in the lead up to Christmas! The new lanterns would be a perfect way to send off someone’s Christmas list to ensure Santa brings all the right presents.
We’ve uploaded a video showing the new lanterns in all their glory that you can see below;
These chinese lanterns are just prototypes, we would welcome any comments or improvements you think could improve them (and yes we are going to make the face a bit less pink!).
If you have any ideas about our new lanterns please do leave a comment, alternatively email us at sales@wishlantern.co.uk with any questions you may have.
Hanging or floating Chinese Lanterns? What would you opt for at your next celebratory event? This is not really a debate as such, more a gentle musing. What it comes down to is a matter of personal taste.
Obviously if you are reading this blog, then you’re clearly a fan of the floating sky lantern, and you’d be right in your opinion. At wish lantern UK, there’s no contest.
The floating lantern offers something altogether more magical and awe-inspiring than the simple hanging variety- You can also get water floating lanterns, but these are certainly not as convenient and easy to operate as the sky bound lantern- The launching of a swarm of floating sky and chinese lanterns creates something of an event, it becomes the talking point, the moving centrepiece, the showstopping, crowd-pleasing part in the proceedings. Floating lanterns also allow your guests to fully participate. They light, they touch, they hold and release. They have an active hand in producing some of the magic.
Hanging lanterns on the other hand are there to be admired passively. They look perfectly pretty, but they tend to merge into the background of a brightly lit or heavily decorated interior. They’re just a small part of an array of attractive sights, but they’re not, unlike floating lanterns, an event in themselves. Hanging lanterns are oil paintings, floating lanterns are uber modern art installations.
The answer is to have both at your next big bash. Have hanging lanterns to add an extralight dimension to the space and instigate a lantern launch to mark the occassion in true style. If you’re budget won’t stretch to both…well, I know which lanterns I’d opt for…
Wish Lantern.co.uk is your leading supplier of Chinese Lanterns for weddings and celebrations. We can be reached on 0845 500 1215 or by emailing the team sales@wishlantern.co.uk
It seems extraordinary that so many people can mistake sky lanterns for something altogether more otherwordly. The only similarity- assuming you base your idea of what a UFO looks like on the film Independence Day- is that both inhabit the sky. That’s really it.
There’s nothing about a sky lantern that is remotely similar to what could be described as an alien spaceship. Why then have there been so many supposed UFO sightings? Is it little Miss Smith wanting her five minutes of fame as she informs the local Press of a strange light in the night sky? Or do these people genuinely believe that other life forms in the form of fire balls are threatening human existence? What was going through Miss Jones’ head for instance (I have used a false name to protect her identity) when she called police in the wee small hours because she had seen a hovering light?
On the scale of things, a hovering light doesn’t exactly top the bill in the earth shattering, life threatening stakes. It’s not on a par with say, spotting an axe murderer in your hedge, or finding a ticking bomb in your back garden.
Seeing as Sky Lanterns and wish lanterns, are only going to increase in popularity, it’s likely that more of these ‘sightings’ will crop up in the near future. One couple recently reported to have seen over forty lights in the last week- We see lights practically every other night -they said- At first we thought they were planes, but there’s no sound or flashing... Yes, that’s because they’re made of rice paper.
So, lets clear this up once and for all. Sky lanterns are not UFO’s. If you see a light in the sky. Stop, think, have a little ponder, and you’ll probably come to the conclusion that there’s nothing much to write home about. after all.
Wishlantern.co.uk is your leading supplier of Sky lanterns (not UFOs) for weddings and celebrations. We can be reached on 0845 500 1215 or by emailing the team sales@wishlantern.co.uk
Chinese Lanterns…they’ve turned up at Glastonbury, at Big Lunches accross the UK, and have put on a show at Field Day. Now they’re marking out their territory at the Big Chill Festival, and causing a sensation in the process.
Yes, lanterns go hand in hand with music festivals these days. So much so in fact, that soon it will seem positively odd to see a group of people gathering to celebrate the sounds of the moment without a chinese lantern in their hands ready for the launching. The Big Chill Festival was as thrilling as ever this year thanks in part to the droves of sky lanterns lighting up the clear night skies.
It had expanded for 2009 with The Funky Bison bar, Sailor Jims Rum bar and Mr Scruff’s very own tent adding to the ever growing list of spots churning out consistently top class music. The main stage was quite the musical tour de force, occupied at various times by the likes of Basement Jaxx, David Bryne, Norman Jay, and Orbital. It was during the latter’s set, that chinese lanterns made their startling appearance, released by the hordes of enthusiastic revellers.
If you want to see the lanterns in their full glory, check out jonny Baker’s stunning snaps of sky lanterns at the big chill. I think you’ll agree that they have a truly magical quality that seems to seep out of the still frame. Now, imagine them in motion, ascending to the sounds of intoxicating melodies and discordant chords…The Big Chill just wouldn’t have been the same without them.
Wishlantern.co.uk is your leading supplier of Chinese Lanterns for weddings and celebrations. We can be reached on 0845 500 1215 or by emailing the team sales@wishlantern.co.uk
Chinese Lanterns have been very popular this season and the team at Chinese Lanterns have had some great fun trying to capture high quality pic’s on film of these magical objects cascading into the skies.
Well to be honest not actually on film as we tend to prefer the convenience digital camera’s offer; Instant review and edit of your shots as well as the ability to take shots in the 1000’s in one outing! Makes a nice change from the mere 24 shots my old Kodak instamatic could handle. Video recording is now a handy bundled extra for some impromptu Spielberg moments and is littering the webspace known as YouTube as you read this.
I recently purchased a new camera and can assure you it was an involved and lengthy process. I feel I should share my experiences and have broken the camera’s into 3 Categories and named my favourite model for each. I must mention I am by no means a professional photographer but I am a passionate consumer and have spent countless hours comparing specifications, value for money and reviews for consumer/prosumer models
1. Compact
A compact camera needs to be well ‘compact’ it also needs to be able to take a decent pic and have decent battery life and clear display screen. My favourite camera in this category was the Canon SD780 which has all these features and more, it even features High Def. Video capture and comes in a range of stylish colours. Pop one in your purse or top pocket for life’s spontaneous moments and you won’t regret it.
2. Rugged
Life’s not always rainbows and fluffy bunnies and when your snowboarding Whistlers backcountry or snorkelling in Hawaii you need a camera that can handle the pressure, how else can you prove those trick moves you’ve been bragging of to your mates or that beautiful Clown fish following you around the lagoon. My fav was the Olympus MJU 8000 which is Shockproof to 2m, Waterproof to 10m, Crushproof to 100kgand freezeproof to -10°C. Image quality is good and versatility is second to none.
3. SuperZoom
Calling all birdwatchers, peeping tom’s and National Geographic Photographer wannabies. If you’re looking for a camera that can get up close and personal so you don’t have to then check out the Canon SX10is. I really loved this camera. It produces clear detailed pictures, features a very useful articulating (bendy,rotating) lcd screen and can zoom 20x optical. More than enough for most people it is slightly bigger than the other two models I reviewed but still more portable than a professional model and designed for a variety of situations. Video quality on this model is great and if you need more features for an extra £100 you can get the upspec’d SX1s version that includes HD quality video capabilities.
I haven’t tried to baffle you with spec’s too much but it you’d like to know more feel free to reply to this post. I’d also recommend the very useful site dPreview.com as an excellent source of information. Happy Snapping! WishLantern.co.uk is your leading supplier of Chinese Lanterns for weddings and celebrations. Please call us on 0845 500 1215 or email sales@wishlantern.co.uk
Chinese lanterns…the perfect accompaniment to London’s biggest and longest standing weekend festival, the notting Hill carnival. It’s that time of year again, the last, sunny bank holiday weekend in August, when we all bid farewell to the summer (what there was of it), and welcome in the autumn term. Celebrations all round.
