The Holyoke Winter Carnival’s opening night event on Friday, March 1, at the new Community Field, is a Luminaria, and the public is invited to participate by creating their own to be a part of this great community event.
What is a luminaria or farolito and why should you come to see it?
According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary a Luminaria is a traditional Mexican Christmas lantern originally consisting of a candle set in sand inside a paper bag.
Wikipedia defines a luminaria or farolito as a small paper lantern (commonly a candle set in some sand inside a paper bag) which is of significance in New Mexico and elsewhere in the United States at Christmas time, especially on Christmas Eve.
Holyoke’s luminaria will begin at 6:00 p.m., is free, and open to the public. It will be a beautiful display of over 1,000 luminaries dotting the walkways leading up to the new outdoor ice rink.
Bring Your Own Luminaria to the Event
Its a community wide winter celebration of fun and everyone’s invited. We’ll make the first 1,000 luminaries, and your welcome to show your own creativity by bringing one that you made or one’s that your family created together.
Making Luminarias
Supplies:
- Paper lunch bags (white or brown)
- Votive candles
- Sand
To make luminarias:
- Fold down the top inch of the paper lunch bag to create a lip
- Add enough sand to hold the bag down, about two inches
- Add a votive candle, standing it on the center of the sand
