This year Vik has worked on two separate Festival of Light lantern parades. Firstly with the Cullompton Christmas Festival and Lantern Parade held on the 24th November 2018. Secondly with Squircle Arts during the Christmas by the Sea Festival of Light held in Paignton, Devon on 8th December 2018.
During Cullompton Christmas Festival, Vik worked with local groups and families to create giant lanterns as part of the evening lantern parade. Despite the rain the festival was a great success and bought lots of visitors and shoppers into the high street. As it got dark and the festive market stalls were flooded with visitors Vik and the team paraded the giant lanterns behind the Crooked Tempo Samba Band.
The atmosphere was electric and it was wonderful to see everyone dancing in the street to the samba rhythms
The Seahorse Lantern at Christmas By The Sea, Paignton’s winter Arts festival. Victoria was commissioned by Squircle Arts of Brixham to create the lead lantern for the lantern parade through the streets of Paignton to the festival’s performance zone in Palace Theatre Gardens. This project was supported by a National Lottery Arts Grant
Vik joined forces with Devon Artist Deborah Holden Baxter Burton to deliver workshops and create festive lanterns for the Cullompton Christmas Festival.
The Giant Elf Lantern, one of the large lanterns in the Cullompton Christmas Festival Lantern Parade. Victoria Westaway created large scale lanterns with members of the local community.
Some of the Giant lanterns created by Vik, Debbie and the team. These lanterns all danced down Cullompton’s Fore St to the Festive Lights Switch on. The day proved a great success and along with the Crooked Tempo Samba Band brought a bit of Rio to Mid Devon.
Some of the Christmas By The Sea Team. Kate and Joni of Squircle Arts worked their festive magic and brought a whole host of festive activities and spectacle to Paignton in December.
The Giant Seahorse Lantern carried by the Doorstep Arts Team, this project brought lots of artists and creatives together to offer wonderful cultural opportunities and workshops for the people of Paignton, Brixham and Torquay.
The Giant Seahorse lantern created by Vik Westaway for the Christmas By The Sea Festive Event. The illuminated lantern danced on waves of fairy lights and were carried through the streets of Paignton before they assembled in the Palace Theatre Gardens where participants enjoyed festive performances and samba drumming.
The Festive Lanterns included a giant Elf, Reindeer, Present, Snowman, Angel and even Starfish. The lantern parade danced energetically behind Devon’s Crooked Tempo Samba Band. It was wonderful to see everyone dancing in the street and really celebrating the onset of Christmas.
The second lantern project of the winter was part of Squircle Arts Christmas by the Sea festival.
This Arts council funded project worked with a range of arts organisations and local groups to bring the town of Paignton together to experience performing and visual arts workshops, crafts, performance and theatrical spectacle. Vik was commissioned to create the lead lantern of a giant seahorse which swam over ‘waves of blue fabric and fairy lights.
The festival saw large numbers attend the event that paraded to the palace theatre gardens for a children’s music performance, samba band and singer songwriters.
The Christmas by the Sea event proved a great success, Vik created a spectacle for the parade which worked with the town centre logistics and made the lantern appear larger by adding extra trailing elements that could join in with the dancing. It was wonderful to work alongside Squircle Arts and Doorstep Arts and see all the festive community spirit really take shape.
Squircle Arts
Doorstep Arts
Cullompton Christmas Festival