Illuminate Bermondsey 2025
Make your own lanterns at free workshops in local schools, libraries and community centres during October and November and then join us in The Blue Market, Bermondsey, from 5pm on Friday 21st November for a spectacular lantern procession to Southwark Park Bandstand.
Thank you for participating in our workshops. We are looking forward to seeing the lanterns at the procession on Friday!
Please could you fill in a feedback form – this helps us get funding for more workshops and only take a few minutes.
Lantern Procession
5pm Meet at The Blue Market Place, London SE16 3UQ Please bring your lanterns!
The Blue Market will be open late to provide refreshments and shopping including hot pies and baked potatoes!
There will be a workshop for fitting lights and last minute lantern making from 4pm in The Blue Market
We should arrive in Southwark Park by 6pm where the bandstand will be decorated with lights and music will be played.
The route and schedule maybe subject to last minute changes due to weather, please follow directions when you arrive. Stewards will wear Hi-Vis Jackets. Please use the pavements and footpaths where-ever possible and wait for directions from stewards when crossing roads. Parents and carers please walk on the outside (road side) of children and watch out for traffic passing on the right in the road. Use electric lights in your lanterns, no flames – we have battery lights to give away. Look out for each other and enjoy the procession!
FAQs
What if the weather forecast looks bad?
Please bring appropriate waterproof clothing and footware and wrap up warm! We are unlikely cancel due to wet or cold weather we usually get in the UK in November but in the rare event of extreme conditions (eg. gale force winds blowing our lanterns away) we will have to make changes to ensure safety, please listen to stewards when you arrive.
I didn’t get to make a lantern, is it too late?
There will be a workshop for last minute small lantern making from 4pm in The Blue Market. We also have a few lanterns that people made but were unable to carry themselves so we’ll need people to help carry these too.
I didn’t get lights or a stick for my lantern
We have lights and bamboo canes to give away at the start of the procession (while stocks last so please arrive early). Please ask an adult to help make a small hole in your lantern with scissor or a craft knife so you can insert the lights when you arrive.
I made a lantern as school, who is bringing it?
Please contact you teacher, they will have made arrangements for grown-ups to help collect your lanterns from school and bring them to the parade. Please help each other carry the lanterns.
Can I keep my lantern after the parade?
Yes! Please take your lanterns home. You can keep the lights too. Look after it and bring it back to the next procession, we want to see them again.
Free Lantern Making Workshops
Our artists will guide you through the lantern making process at free workshops and all materials are provided, including lights. We encourage people to work together to make their own unique designs and offer a range of workshops for different skills and abilities, from simple jam jar lanterns to magic lanterns, to our popular willow lanterns.
Tuesday 28th October 1pm – 4pm
Blue Anchor Library, Market Place SE16 3UQ
Free drop in, all ages welcome
Saturday 1st November 12noon – 3pm
The Blue Market, Market Place SE16 3UQ
Friday 7th November 6pm – 9pm 2025
Wade Hall, Bardell House SE1 2DH
Saturday 8th November 12noon – 3pm
The Blue Market Market Place SE16 3UQ
1.30pm – 4.30pm Mondays 20th & 27th October. 3rd & 10th November
The Shed, London Bubble, 3 – 5 Elephant Lane, SE16 4JD
To join email : abena@londonbubble.org.uk (over 16s only)
Friday 21st November 4pm
The Blue Market Market Place SE16 3UQ
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.
This year we were thrilled to announce a sister event Light Up the Old Docks on 4pm Saturday 15th November 2025 in Russia Dock Woodlands organised by Light Whale International.
Everyone was invited to join in with both parades on 15th November in Russia Dock Woodlands and on 21st November in The Blue Market.
About Illuminate Bermondsey
Illuminate Bermondsey is a free annual lantern festival for local residents, inspired by the histories of the Thames, the docks and migration.
Illuminate Rotherhithe began in 2016, founded by residents. Inspired by the story of the Mayflower ship, believed to have docked in Rotherhithe before sailing with the first pilgrims to America, the festival celebrates the Thames, the dock, migration and local heritage. Growing year on year, in 2019 the procession was extended into Bermondsey incorporating more venues including The Blue Market. The overarching theme for Illuminate continues to be the local history of migration, celebrating the many cultural contributions that make up the community of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe today.
Light festivals have been celebrated worldwide, including Winter Solstice, Diwali, Hanukkah, and Bonfire Night. We provide an opportunity for all to come together and celebrate light, share experiences, and lift spirits during the coldest and darkest months of the year. Our artists help people work together to design and build their own lanterns for the parade and represent themselves at a celebrated public event.
Illuminate Bermondsey is organised by Collaborative Arts C.I.C. in collaboration with Southwark Present Cultural Celebration Fund, The Blue Market, Big Local Works, Blue Bermondsey BID, Rotherhithe Consolidate Charities and Light Whale International.