As stated previously, I went to a lantern festival in the Mohave Desert outside Las Vegas. Rise Mohave happens every year and my son and his girlfriend had raved about it. Now I see why…it was truly magical.

After about a half-hour bus ride from Las Vegas, we got to the desert just before sunset. The weather was perfect! It had rained the day before, so I was a little worried the event would be cancelled. The sky was crystal clear, thankfully.

Here’s the sign that everyone posed in front of:

And from behind:

The whole thing was beautifully organized. We had assigned spots and were given tatami mats to sit on. I got tired of sitting on the hard ground, so luckily they had a tent where you could sit on benches for a break.

This was also where you could write on your two lanterns. People wrote all kinds of stuff–things that they were grateful for, people they wanted to pray for and negative stuff they wanted to go up in flames. It was pretty emotional, I have to say.

Oh, there was live music too, which was a nice touch.

When it was completely dark, we were told to light our lanterns, which was the hard part. I think my son lighted most of the lanterns near us because it was a struggle! There’s a little wax square at the base of the lantern and you have to hold a flame to it for several seconds. All this while the wind is blowing and you have to worry about the lantern collapsing and burning! Somehow we managed to not burn any of ours. 🙂

It helps to stand the lantern on the ground once it’s lit, and then wait a few minutes until it’s ready to float.

And then they’re off! It was soooo beautiful, made me teary-eyed. Everyone was so happy and awed by the sight of the lanterns in the night sky. I was so happy to be with my son and his girlfriend too. They made the entire trip extra-special for me.

Here’s a short video I shot on my iPhone….

If you’re planning a trip to Vegas in the month of October, check out Rise Mohave.

Great weekend, everyone!

{carole}