Ottawa Lumière Festival 2009

Residents Make Lanterns and Display Them at Annual Festival

Aug 6, 2009 Michael Falcone

Lumiere Festival's Joanne Hughes returns with an army of fairies, acrobats and firespinners to create a magical night for Ottawa residents of all ages.

The Sixth Annual Ottawa Lumière Festival is held at Ottawa’s Stanley Park situated along the banks of the Rideau River. The night promises to be filled with the calm of candles lit throughout the park alongside 150 live performers such as professional fire spinners, dancers, acrobats and musicians.

Festival’s Theme – “The GLOAMING”

This year’s theme, “THE GLOAMING”, entails three distinct areas in the park set up in the perpetual glow of twilight. The first area, called “Metropolis”, will be lit up as a bright, vibrant, abstract cityscape; the second, “Surrealism” captures the unearthly realm of white spirits and shapes, and, lastly, “Flora” is a mysterious, ethereal forest with fantastical trees and flowers. The Lumière Festival is for all ages and runs from July 17th to August 8th, 2009.

Annual Photo Exhibit, “Many Hands”

This year’s photo exhibit will display the work of photographer Matt Carrington whose day job usually entails chronicling events in the Middle East. As quoted on the Lumière Festival’s website, Carrington describes the festival as, “...this amazing, freewheeling thing that just unfolded in front of the camera…” The exhibit is free and runs concurrently with the festival.

The Philosophy Behind Ottawa’s Lumière Festival

The Lumière Festival gives Ottawa residents the chance to break out and be artistic. The festival is an event created by the community for the community; individuals of all ages are given the chance to design and construct their own lanterns to be exhibited during the festival. As stated on their official website, the festival is a time to “...bring unity to individuals and groups from diverse cultures, languages, ages and socioeconomic backgrounds...”

The Crichton Cultural Community Centre (CCCC)

The Lumière Festival was a result of the CCCC’s decision to transform an old historic Crichton School building into a dynamic centre for art, learning and community development. This centre has served as a gathering place for professional and non-professional artists to grow. This initiative eventually gave birth to projects such as the Lumière Lantern Festival.

History of Ottawa’s Lumière Festival

Ottawa’s Lumière Festival was created and has been managed by the CCCC since 2004. The first Ottawa lantern festival took place in Strathcona Park in 2003 by an organization (consisting of two individuals) called Wild Infinity Training Limited. When the CCCC received a grant from the Ottawa Trillium Foundation for a lantern festival, the two teams got together and launched the first ever Ottawa Lumière Festival held on August 28th 2004.

The copyright of the article Ottawa Lumière Festival 2009 in Art & Society is owned by Michael Falcone. Permission to republish Ottawa Lumière Festival 2009 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Ottawa's Lumiere Festival

Ottawa's Lumiere Festival