Jellyfish, gingerbread men, shoals of fish, a horde of mice, a polar bear and a dragon are just some of the characters in a cast of hundreds of lantern characters in this Friday's (5th December 2025) Ashbourne Christmas Lantern Spectacular. Fun starts from 18.30pm.
Spark! – an internationally renowned drumming troop with a sensational display of illumination and sound – will lead the way, while the stunning angels on stilts from Corvus Angelicus will entertain visitors to the town.
“It’s a complete community project. It’s organised by an Ashbourne Christmas Group that comprises of Ashbourne Arts, Ashbourne Churches Together, Ashbourne Traders Group, and Ashbourne Town Council. We’ve been running workshops with children from local primary schools and Scout Troops since early October,” says Ashbourne Arts Chairman Chris Walker.
Community volunteers have also become part of the lantern manufacturing team, creating a host of new puppet characters.
The half-mile long procession of music and light features around 300 willow and paper lanterns. All will leave St Oswald’s Church at 6.30pm, arriving at the Christmas Tree in the marketplace a little after 7pm. There will be a Christmas Carol event around the tree.
“Howlers” will mingle with and entertain the crowd throughout the evening.
Friday 5th December attractions will include:
- Street closures to traffic from 17.30
- Lantern parade from St Oswald’s Church 18.30
- Arrive Market Square 19.15
- Late Night Shopping
- Carols around the Christmas tree
- Craft Fair at the Town Hall (from 16.00-21.00)
- Car parking concessions
For safety and security reasons, some road closures may take place as early as 17.00 and may continue until 20.30.
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