Illuminate Bermondsey & Rotherhithe 2026
Friday 20 November 2026 | Parade begins at 5pm
Get ready to light up Bermondsey! Illuminate Bermondsey returns this November with a spectacular community lantern parade from The Blue Market Place to Southwark Park.
Join us with your family, friends and neighbours as we bring the streets to life with handmade lanterns, music and a celebration of our local community.
This year’s theme is “We Live in London” — celebrating our iconic landmarks, neighbourhoods, workplaces, parks and markets, and all the people and wildlife that make our city such a special place to live.
Make your own lantern
Free lantern-making workshops will be taking place in the weeks leading up to the parade, giving local residents, schools and community groups the chance to create their own unique lanterns.
Willow Lanterns making sessions last 2 – 3 hours, and participant work in small teams and learn to bend and fix together structures from natural willow and then glue on a thin layer of special wet-strength tissue. The lantern are then be left to dry before putting in your lights and adding extra decorations – expect to get carried aways and we will have a programme of free public workshops if you want to do more. Everyone takes their lantern home and brings it for the parade where they meet and show off what they have made in the streets.
4pm – 7pm Thursday 5th November
Bermondsey Square, SE1 3UN
Book now
12pm – 3pm Saturday 7th November
The Blue Market, SE16 3UQ
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4pm – 7pm Thursday 12th November
Bermondsey Square, SE1 3UN
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5.30pm – 8.30pm Friday 13th November
Wade Hall Dickens Estate TRA, Bardell House, SE1 2DH
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12pm – 3pm Saturday 14th November
The Blue Market, SE16 3UQ
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4pm – 7pm Tuesday 17th November
Bermondsey Square, SE1 3UN
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Make a GIANT lantern with Rotherhithe Shed
1.30 – 4.30pm Monday 2 November
1.30 – 4.30pm Monday 9 November
1.30 – 4.30pm Monday 16 November
The Shed, London Bubble Theatre, 5 Elephant Ln, London SE16 4JD
For older adults (sorry, no under 18 years)
Email abena@londonbubble.org.uk
We will also be visiting City of London Academy Bermondsey, Harris Academy Bermondsey, St James Primary School, Galleywall Primary School, Bede Centre, St. Micheals College, Bermondsey Cub Scouts and more…
The Lantern Parade
- Date: Friday 20 November 2026
- Assembly: From 4pm at The Blue Market Place
- Parade departure: 5pm
- Route: The Blue Market Place to Southwark Park
Bring your lantern and join the procession as we make our way through the streets, accompanied by a samba band from St Michaels Collage and stewards. The evening will culminate at Southwark Park with a beautifully lit bandstand with music from Daren Callow & Unity Music Arts Trust
About Illuminate Bermondsey & Rotherhithe
Thank you
Illuminate Bermondsey is a free community event produced by Blue Bermondsey BID, Bermondsey Square and Collaborative Arts CIC and supported by London Bubble, Unity Music Arts Trust, Big Local Works, St. Michaels College and Bede Centre.