Spring is in the air, with mild evenings that make you want to be out enjoying them (before the scorching heat and the marauding mossies make an appearance) and a local festival beckoned (and made me wish that this festival had been around when my children were young because there was such a lovely family vibe to it all.) I had a couple of hours to kill and instead of sitting at home in front of a screen I decided to check out the lantern festival.
In a neighboring suburb there is a lovely wetland area with a lake and pavilion, bbq areas and playground, walking tracks and sporting fields and when the children were young there was many a playgroup picnic held in the park, but this evening there was a little more going on.
The park was filled with the sound of children's laughter, mouthwatering scents of Dutch pancakes, sizzling sausages and potato twirls, and music playing as performers entertained the crowds and finally there were the lanterns.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting (maybe I was picturing big lanterns that you see at Chinese New Year celebrations) but these were small ones painted and decorated by the children at the festival and maybe that was what made it more special.
As night fell paper flower lanterns were lit and placed onto the lake and the few we saw were very pretty (I am sure later it would been more spectacular but I had a prior engagement and had to leave before the lake was filled)
It might not have been as spectacular a festival as ones you would see in Asia, but for a little local festival it was fun and I am glad I went to have a look. It made me think of how many other things like this I may have missed out on because I didn't look at the local newspapers (or the local neighborhood social media page) and I need to make sure I do it more often because I don't want to miss out on little gems like this again. So make sure you keep an eye out in your local area because you never know what you might find.
The park was filled with children's laughter at the many activities that were running for them, there were amazing scents of Dutch pancakes, sizzling sausages and twisted potatoes, there was up for them, zzz