Mid Argyll Lantern Parade

Aim

To resurrect the Mid Argyll Lantern parade and bring the community together for a common and achievable purpose.

Help Us Bring Back the Mid Argyll Lantern Parade

Project Coordinator: Trish Collins
Managed by Mid Argyll Youth Development Services (MAYDS) - as part of the Mid Argyll Planet Youth coalition.

We are delighted to be working to bring the Mid Argyll Lantern Parade back to the streets of Lochgilphead on 7 November 2026 — and we need the community’s help to make it happen.

The Lantern Parade was always much more than a one-night event. At its heart, it was about bringing people together.

For many years, children, parents, grandparents, friends and neighbours came together to create lanterns, share skills and be part of something truly special. People of all ages and abilities could participate, and the weeks of workshops leading up to the parade were every bit as important as the parade itself.

This year, Mid Argyll Youth Development Services (MAYDS) is bringing the event back, coordinated by Trish Collins, one of the founding members of the original Lantern Parade committee.

Our aim is to work with schools and young people throughout Mid Argyll, alongside outreach sessions and open community workshops where families and individuals can come together to make their own lanterns.

Then, on Saturday 7 November, hundreds of handmade lanterns will come together for a spectacular procession through Lochgilphead, bringing light, music and colour back to the town.

Why We Need Your Help

Bringing an event of this scale back after so many years is a huge undertaking. Funding is needed for artists and workshop staff, lantern-making materials and equipment, bands and musicians, venue hire, road closures, traffic management, barriers, signage, insurance and the many other costs involved in safely staging a major community event.

Every donation, no matter how small, will help.

Your contribution could help buy materials for a child’s first lantern, support an artist to deliver a community workshop, bring musicians to the parade or help meet the essential costs of keeping everyone safe on the night.

Most importantly, your donation will help bring people together.

We want this to be an event where all generations create something side by side; where young people feel part of their community; where people of different abilities can participate equally; and where our town centre is once again filled with families, visitors, music and hundreds of glowing lanterns.

The original Lantern Parade created some wonderful memories for Mid Argyll. Now we have the opportunity to create those memories for a whole new generation.

Please help us bring the light back to Lochgilphead.

Donate whatever you can, share our crowdfunding page with friends and family, and join us on 7 November 2026 for the return of the Mid Argyll Lantern Parade.

Help Light up Mid Argyll again!

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 12th October 2026 at 12:50pm