Junk Xmas tree competition will light up Lantern Festival

The popular Christmas Lantern Festival is back in Cross Flatts Park, Beeston, on Friday (13 December 2019) for its 7th year.

Join hundreds of people from across South Leeds for an evening of music, carols, arts and craft, animal petting, hot food and drink, thousands of lights and lanterns – and bags of community spirit.

The free event, which runs from 5-7pm, centres around the Watsonian Pavilion at the top end of the park (off Beeston Road).

Special features this year include: a ‘Junk Christmas Tree’ challenge; and an orienteering trail around the park and a giant snow globe.

The Junk Christmas Tree Competition is an opportunity for families, individuals, friends, community groups, faith groups, children’s groups, youth groups (in fact anyone and everyone) to create/build/put together a Christmas tree made entirely of junk. The trees will then form part of the festival with a small forest of junk trees displayed for all to see and admire.

The trees must be self-standing, no more than 6ft in height and must be battery lit (the lights do not need to be junk) and must be in the park by 5:45pm on the day of the festival.

There will be prizes and the trees will be judged on the evening and the winners announced at the end of the festival.

The festival is led by the Salvation Army South Leeds Initiative, with fantastic support from the Church in LS11, Slung Low, local schools, South Leeds Lakers, SLATE, and others. The organisers would like to thank the Leeds City Council Inner South Community Committee for their generous sponsorship.

If you can help on the day, organisers are looking for volunteers at any time between 9am-9pm on the day to help set and clear down.