Lanterns light up family festival

Aarika is lifted by her Dad, Manish Goel to catch bubbles. A bubble explodes. 300437_01 Pictures: ROB CAREW

By Marcus Uhe

A warm Saturday evening provided a special setting for the return of the Lynbrook Lantern Festival on 1 October.

Organised by the Lynbrook Residents Association, the annual event had taken a backseat in recent years due to the pandemic, but returned in style with estimated crowd of roughly 6000 people, a significant increase on previous numbers, according to association president Carlton Vaz.

“We were super pleased (with the event),” Mr Vaz said.

“We do it every year but this was unbelievable.

“The crowd was fantastic and everybody was happy, very family-friendly event. All the rides, food and things were reasonably priced.”

The event was highlighted by the floating of the self-decorated lanterns across Banjo Paterson Lake.

Kids were entertained by a number of VIPs, including Mickey Mouse, Mermaid Tarielle, Spider-Man and Charlie SillyPants, along with pony rides, a reptile demonstration and carnival rides.

“I would like to thank all the volunteers who worked tirelessly to cater to a crowd of over 5000,” Mr Vaz said.

“I would like to specially mention Vanessa Watson, our event manager, for all her hard work and sleepless nights.”

Photographer ROB CAREW captured the best of the action on the day.