Celebrate the end of summer and the gift of community with a magical lantern parade on Chocorua Lake at dusk.
On Sunday, August 31 at 6PM, join Chocorua Lake Conservancy for its Annual Picnic in the Grove by Chocorua Lake, followed, at dusk, by the Parade of Lights on the lake. BYO picnic, drinks, chairs, flashlights or headlamps (important!), and whatever else you might need. Then, decorate your canoe or kayak with lanterns, fairy lights, or candles to participate in the parade, or watch the beauty unfold from the shore.
The parade will begin to assemble soon after the sun sets at 7:25 PM. Boats will put in from the Grove at the Route 16 end of Chocorua Lake Road, or you can put in at the Island off of Rt. 16 and paddle over toward the Narrows Bridge for the start of the parade.
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The Parade is follow-the-leader. The head boat will place a lantern on the Little Lake Rock at about 7:20 and will be identified in front of the Narrows Bridge as boats assemble in the water from the Grove. All the boats will pass in front of the Narrows Bridge first and then join the line following the head boat. After spending some time looping around the bridge end of the big lake, the lead boat will lead the parade under the bridge for a smaller loop around the Little Lake rock. Once all boats that are able to enter the little lake have passed beneath the bridge and out into Little Lake, the lead boat will lead the parade back under the bridge to line up again in the big lake with all the boats to “storm” the shore of the Grove.
Boat headlights might be used at the beginning or end for safety, but they can be bright and blinding for other boaters, and if you do not have other lanterns or lights on your boat, it can be harder for boats behind you to see you. Please be sure you also have flashlights or headlamps as needed for safety on shore before and after, lifejackets, and whatever else you need to be safe out on the lake.
The Parade of Lights was started in the 1960s by painter and landscape designer Sam’l Newsom, a longtime Chocorua resident, and his friends. Newsom, who designed landscapes as disparate as the Japanese Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and the Remick Park in Tamworth, was inspired by aspects of the Japanese festival celebrations he witnessed during his time living in Japan. Come see for yourself why this tradition continues so many decades after its inception.
Banner image: The Parade of Lights on Chocorua Lake. Photo: Betsy Memishian