Water Lantern Festival returns to south London this September, with thousands of glowing lanterns released across Clapham Common’s Long Pond and a second date at Danson Park.
The festival lands at Danson Park in Bexleyheath on Saturday 5 September, then Clapham Common on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September. Doors open at 6pm, with the lantern release itself running from 7pm to 8pm as the sun goes down.
Tickets include a lantern kit, markers and a drawstring bag. Guests write personal messages on their lantern before setting it afloat, alongside live music, food from local traders and activities to fill the hours before sunset.
How much, and what you get
General admission is £26.90 per person. A couples package at £30.90 includes two tickets, two lantern kits and a picnic blanket, and a 4-pack comes in at £24.90 per person for groups. All three tiers include the lantern kit, markers and bag.
The format started in the US in 2018 and has since spread to more than 100 cities worldwide, with over a million participants so far. Clapham Common hosted its UK debut last year, and this is its second run.
The London x London take: the appeal here isn’t really the lanterns themselves, it’s the deliberate pause before you release one, the actual writing of a message you mean. Clapham Common’s Long Pond makes a properly pretty backdrop for it, and with two dates on offer, there’s no excuse to miss it if last year passed you by.
Need to know
- Where: Long Pond, Clapham Common, London (also Danson Park, Bexleyheath, on 5 September)
- When: Saturday 5 September (Danson Park); Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September (Clapham Common), 6pm-10pm
- Tickets: from £24.90 per person
