Lantern Floating Ceremony at Ala Moana Beach Park

[sury]

Henry,
Thanks for the latest set of photos. Very impressive and informative about similar but not identical cultural practices.

With best regards,
Sury

[aster]

The last one is especially nice. I wonder if we can start a tradition of the like in Istanbul? Soaring lanterns over the Bosphorus and the Marmara Sea would look spectacular...

Thanks for sharing....

Yildiz

[paulmurphy]

Very nice pictures Henry, it must be very moving to witness first hand, especially if you are taking part and remmbering someone

Best wishes

Paul

[bakubo]

The last one is especially nice. I wonder if we can start a tradition of the like in Istanbul? Soaring lanterns over the Bosphorus and the Marmara Sea would look spectacular...

That would be a really cool idea! You and a few friends could send some into the air and if you don't get arrested spreading fire over the city then others may join you. Good luck! Take some photos.

[Dr. Harout]

We sent some hot air balloons on my friend's birthday and not got arrested............ yet.

[David Kilpatrick]

The lanterns are damaging wildlife and littering some area in the UK, as this is becoming a bit of a craze - they do eventually come down, they may have wire frames, the paper may or may not degrade. Apart from any notional fire risk (or real fire risk in summer, with drought conditions as we appear to be facing shortly in the UK) they are just not a very environmentally friendly way of celebrating. Hundreds were released in Cumbria last weekend at vigils for the schoolgirl killed in a coach crash.

David

[Greg Beetham]

You would think they would only come down after the candle burnt out, little risk of fire at that point, one would think, but I guess the paper could catch on fire...maybe.
Greg

[aster]

The lanterns are damaging wildlife and littering some area in the UK, as this is becoming a bit of a craze - they do eventually come down, they may have wire frames, the paper may or may not degrade. Apart from any notional fire risk (or real fire risk in summer, with drought conditions as we appear to be facing shortly in the UK) they are just not a very environmentally friendly way of celebrating. Hundreds were released in Cumbria last weekend at vigils for the schoolgirl killed in a coach crash.

David

I, hereby announce that after consideration this lantern idea should not be practiced in Istanbul. We have enough firework parades, when in action, have the capacity to pollute the night air for 12 hours which takes some strong winds to clear the air again. We need not add fires that endanger the limited woods we have and it may be dangerous to many ships with different freights also.

Millions of dollars are spent for those events. Better save some of our people's taxes for better humanitarian purposes as we have our share of poor people and education deprived regions in Turkey.

So, no lanterns for Istanbul please, municipalities. Let's save our cities and increase the green parks where real animals and birds are happy on many endemic trees...

We can share the sentimentts of the Hawaiians and the Japanese from a distance instead.

Yildiz

[bakubo]

I bet the lanterns in the skies of the UK are a fairly new fad, but the Yi Peng Lantern Festival in Chiang-Mai probably has been around for awhile. They can cause fires. If there is a breeze then sometimes a lantern will get stuck in a tree and then catch on fire. I haven't seen a tree also catch on fire, but it probably happens sometimes. Also, they can blow into buildings.

[Dusty]

I was at a private shooting range in the woods some years ago and after the day's events someone set off some fireworks. As we were relaxing with a cold brew, someone noticed a distant glow. Luckily, I had an e-tool in the trunk, and although everyone else beat me to the fire, it was the only effective tool in stopping things getting out of hand.

People need to be careful, but common sense is not too common today.

Dusty

[bakubo]

People need to be careful, but common sense is not too common today.

Man, ain't that the truth!