{"id":29852,"date":"2017-10-13T13:35:30","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T20:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=29852"},"modified":"2017-10-13T13:35:30","modified_gmt":"2017-10-13T20:35:30","slug":"friday-fun-rise-lantern-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2017\/10\/13\/friday-fun-rise-lantern-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday Fun: RiSE Lantern Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fourth annual RiSE Lantern Festival<\/em><\/strong><\/a> on the Moapa Indian Reservation in the Mojave Desert some 35 miles north of Las Vegas a week ago was a particularly poignant event following the recent mass shooting.<\/p>\n

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According to their website, the goal of RiSE<\/strong><\/em> is to \u201celevates hope, ignites dreams, and creates memories\u201d when ten thousand<\/em><\/strong> participants release their lit lanterns that have been inscribed with personal messages in unison in the desert to create beautiful memories.<\/p>\n

The event is not cheap, as adult tickets cost $109 ($69 for children aged 3-10) \u2013 but each ticket provides you with two lanterns, a marking pen to inscribe your message on the paper lantern and a sitting mat.\u00a0 No chairs, blankets, strollers, food or beverages are permitted \u2013 although bottled water is OK.\u00a0 They have numerous food trucks scattered all over that are happy to sell you drinks (including beer and wine) and food, as well as stationary food\/beverage kiosks around the venue.\u00a0 Oh, and parking is another $25.<\/p>\n

(I could not find at their home website or the RiSE Lantern Facebook<\/strong><\/a> page – which is accessible to all and has even more gorgeous photos and videos – who actually runs it, and if it\u2019s a for-profit event or if some goes to a charity.)<\/em><\/p>\n

B<\/i>elow is a Map of their venue<\/em><\/p>\n

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The center circle is the stage area & the flesh-colored bar is the single Entrance.<\/em><\/p>\n

The gates open at 3 PM and multiple music shows begin at 3:30 and continue until the\u00a0 launch of the lanterns, which\u00a0 is at about 8:30, followed by a fireworks show.<\/p>\n

The event has become so popular that they needed to add a second night \u2013 and both sold out this year.\u00a0 So that\u2019s some 20,000 paper lanterns scattered on the floor of the Moapa Indian Reservation \u2013 the site of the event in the Mojave.<\/p>\n

According to the RiSE Lantern Festival website<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, the lanterns are 100% biodegradable, and they claim they scour the desert and retrieve every single one \u2013 plus any other trash they find along the way.\u00a0 They also buy carbon offsets for every vehicle they use in the setup and cleanup of the festival.<\/p>\n

I could not find how they lanterns are actually put together, but you\u2019ll get an idea when watching the videos.\u00a0 You can see they are quite large (I\u2019d say 3 feet tall), and take 2-3 people to launch them.\u00a0 They have a forest of Tiki torches lined up in each section that you use to ignite whatever the \u201cpropellant\u201d is that creates the necessary hot air \u2013 but I couldn\u2019t find what kind of material they use.<\/p>\n

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Just a small view of the thousands of Tiki Torches\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In its first year it got quite mixed reviews at Yelp<\/em><\/strong><\/a> \u2013 generally 4 & 5 stars for its stunning beauty and emotional uplift, but very low ratings for its logistical execution.\u00a0 No doubt they\u2019ve learned from their mistakes and have improved if they needed to add another night to accommodate an additional 10,000 people.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s visually enjoy a very unique event with some photos and videos.<\/p>\n

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\"\"\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The first video is by a layperson.\u00a0 I put it first because it provides a better idea of actually what goes on.<\/p>\n