‘A beautiful night’: Hopes and wishes set sail on candlelit lake at Cedar City lantern festival

CEDAR CITY — As the sun set over Three Peaks Oasis on Saturday evening, glowing lanterns adorned with “hopes, goals and wishes” sailed across the lake at Utah’s Lantern Festival.

Glowing lanterns float across at the Three Peaks Oasis lake, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 1, 2022 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, Cedar City News

Advertised for “friends, families and couples,” event collaborator Zion Live Entertainment invited people to gather at Three Peaks Oasis, located on Lund Highway, for a “beautiful night (they would) never forget” in a Facebook post.

“We all face day-to-day challenges in life,” the post states. “This is your time to let go of your past self and embrace happiness. … Write your hopes, goals, and wishes on a lantern to sail away for good luck.”

Parking attendants helped visitors find a space in the large dirt lot. They were given a bag for the evening’s festivities at check-in. Inside was a lantern, a tea candle, a Sharpie and a lighter.

People lined up at food trucks for frozen yogurt, barbecue, funnel cakes and other offerings. Others played games like cornhole and volleyball or swam or kayaked on the lake. Smash Labs Rage Rooms offered free ax-throwing, where attendees threw the objects at wooden bull’s-eyes.

Attendees enjoyed free axe-throwing at Utah’s Lantern Festival, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 1, 2022 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, Cedar City News

Moxie Pest Control hosted a giveaway. Members of the audience screamed as the DJ rattled off raffle ticket numbers. Lucky winners walked away with Lego sets, an Xbox, a 4K television and more. One person took home a bundle of five flyswatters.

Actors playing Rapunzel and Flynn Rider from “Tangled” performed a duet on the DJ tower before discussing the lantern release with the audience. Rapunzel told the audience to imagine their dreams.

“Maybe it’s a private island of your own,” Rider added. “Or maybe a castle … or something even better.”

Attendees wrote across the sides and bottom of the white and gold lanterns. One person wrote “I love you mom,” while others wrote love letters or drew pictures, like dinosaurs and hearts.

Some lanterns were blank.

Glowing lanterns float across at the Three Peaks Oasis lake, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 1, 2022 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, Cedar City News

Attendees were asked to release their lanterns from the south side of the lake, so they would spend more time floating as the north wind carried them to the other side.

People watched their messages, scrawled in black Sharpie, sail across the water.

A couple placed their lantern on the water under the darkening sky, each holding one side — their faces glowed in the candlelight.

Some lanterns burst into flames, while others were extinguished by water or wind, but most floated over the reflective surface, their candles flickering in the waning light.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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