Welcome to the 2026 Bolivar Winter Solstice Lantern Parade fundraising page. My name is Ryan Neher, and I am a lantern maker. This will be our third annual parade. As the lantern festival and community builds and continues to evolve with each new year and new participants, the focus and mission remain the same: to create a free community event open to all to celebrate our neighborhood's creative spirit and the season with vibrant hand-made lanterns in procession through our streets.

This year we are doing things a bit differently. We will again be offering free courses which include all materials and instruction, but we are dividing them into beginner and intermediate levels on two separate weekends. November 6th - 8th will be the intermediate class, and November 13th - 15th will be the beginner class. There will also be a free class for younger children through the Bolivar Harpers Ferry Public Library. Our instructors have decades of combined lantern-making experience and will assist in cultivating everyone's visions.

The parade itself will be held on the Winter Solstice (the shortest day of the year,) Monday, December 21st, at 6:00 PM at the Bolivar Middle School. We will lollygag through town to the Bolivar Children's Park for a gathering and lantern display with refreshments and other entertainment.

The goals of supporting the arts in Bolivar and keeping this event free for all of those who walk through the doors and paying the instructors for their time has me reaching out to you all to help cover the costs. The budget has been submitted and will roughly cost $5000 for all materials, instruction, and advertising. Any donations left over will remain in this separate account earmarked for the 2027 lantern event.

Thanks for your support and hopeful participation

Ryan