Our free QiXi-themed Arts in the Dark parade is just days away. With lion dancers, a flock of giant magpie lanterns, the Flying Fairies dance troupe, shining 3-D chinese characters, a River taxi escort, landscape-inspired lanterns, elegant silk globes – our event will light up the Riverwalk!
August 14, 8:30PM
“The Jetty” on the Chicago Riverwalk (between Franklin & Wells)
Thanks to our partners at Chicago Water Taxi, Chinese Fine Arts Society Members can sail alongside the parade and watch the whole event from the comfort of a boat. Bring a picnic and a couple of friends and enjoy the event in style!
If you want to participate in the parade and don’t have your own we have four ways for you to get your hands on a lantern:
1. Come to our workshop at the Chinatown library (4:30-6PM, Aug 14) and make a cloud lantern.
2. Register in advance at [email protected] to carry one of our silk lanterns, our beautiful chinese characters, giant birds or landscape lanterns.
3. We will have a very limited number of paper lanterns available to borrow on the day. Sign them out from the starting point at the Jetty (opposite the Merchandise Mart) before 8:10PM. It will be first-come first-served so we recommend you come early or register in advance if you want to guarantee a lantern!
About QiXi
Our procession is inspired by the annual QiXi festival which celebrates one of China’s most romantic myths. Forbidden lovers, the Cowherd and the Celestial Weaver Fairy were separated by the Milky Way, a river of stars. But their tears eventually moved the heavens and, once a year, on the seventh night of the seventh lunar month, a flock of all the magpies in the world forms a bridge from Earth to Heaven so the two lovers can reunite. For more information visit our QiXi story page.
