This weekend is the Winter Solstice, Sunday June 21 at 7:43am to be exact, the shortest day of the year for us in the Southern Hemisphere.

Normally at this time, everyone in the community is extremely excited about the Lismore Lantern Parade. Twenty five thousand people lining the streets of the CBD to watch an incredible display of life sized and over sized characters lit up like a Christmas tree and culminating in an extraordinary firework/bon-fire event.

Normal has not been a word associated with 2020 so far with COVID-19 putting an end to the Lismore Lantern Parade display and other events this year, but don't despair there are ways we can still bring the Lismore Lantern Parade to life.

The Virtual Lismore Lantern parade is where families can decorate an old or new lantern then display that lantern at the front of your garden, front doorstep, balcony or window this Saturday night. Jyllie Jackson and her team will have a 'Zoom' Parade this weekend (more details to come) plus a photo montage of households that have already decorated their lanterns and uploaded a photo. You can do this through your social media account with #lightntheheart tag (make sure your pic is public) or email the picture to festival@lanternparade.com.

Lanterns are still available for purchase this Wednesday and Thursday (and ongoing) and cost only $15 from the Lantern Parade building at 289 Keen Street, Lismore. It is best to call Jyllie on 0412 732 102 prior to arriving.

While this is happening, another layer this year is the Enchanted Windows display in the CBD. An initiative sponsored by the Lismore City Council.

A lot of businesses have been hard at work decorating their own lanterns and building a shop front display. This will make a fantastic walk-around for the family over the next two weeks with the display on now until Sunday June 28. The full map and participating businesses are listed below.

If you haven't grabbed the Lantern Parade spirit, now is the time. Let's make the Virtual Lantern Parade and the Enchanted Windows display a huge success in what has been a tough year.

There will be more details to add as the week progresses.