Thursday, July 30, 2015 • 9:10 p.m. PDT

 

Hello, friends.
 

We are beyond gratified that so many people have indicated interest in attending the Bay Area Peace Lantern Ceremony!

The largest turnout we've ever had was 650 people. In 2014, approximately 550 people turned out. As we write these words, nearly 10,000 people have RSVP’d on Facebook that they plan to attend! This all started after we posted our Facebook page in early July, too late to make arrangements for so many people to participate.

Next year, we will be able to better prepare handle such large crowds. However, with only a few days to go, it simply isn’t possible to do so for this year. At most, we can accommodate 2,000 people participating in person in 2015. (More people can be at the park and watch the lantern floating, but we will be limited in how many lantern shades can be decorated and floated on the lagoon.)

We are offering a number of ways you can participate other than by coming to the park and floating a lantern. Here are a few:
 

E-mail us at with your name and an image (a drawing, a photo, etc.) or a phrase that you’d like to have affixed to a lantern. We will print your image on a lantern shade and float it for you. We will put several people’s images on each lantern shade, so a smaller image is just fine. Please also change your RSVP on this page to “Decline” so we have a better sense of how many people will be physically present.     Send a donation to help support the cost of this year’s event (which will be much more expensive because of the extra facilities we’ll need — more tables, etc.), and to make it possible for us to host a much larger event next year so you can attend in person. See our Indiegogo Emergency Appeal at http://igg.me/at/peace-lanterns-2015.     On Aug. 8 between 8 and 9 p.m., while we are putting lanterns in the water, take a minute to reflect on the terrible nightmare of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima (Aug. 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (Aug. 9, 1945), and to rededicate yourself to building a more peaceful future. If you wish, visit our page at http://peacelanterns.org and read the statements of the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that have been sent to Berkeley to recognize our ceremony. Those statements will be posted online before Aug. 8.

 
4. Even if you don’t e-mail us with something to print onto a lantern, e-mail us at peacelanterns-subscribe@npogroups.org* to be placed on our list to be notified of next year’s plans. We send only 2 to 5 messages per year to our list.
    
    
5. If you do plan to attend in person this Aug. 8, please volunteer! See http://peacelanterns.org/volunteer.html to do so. Whether you are volunteering or not, please e-mail peacelanterns-subscribe@npogroups.org* so we can write back with logistical information. It will be crucial to be able to reach as many people as possible ahead of time with details about arriving at the event, what to bring, and what to do when you get there. Also, come by transit — Aquatic Park does not have parking to accommodate large numbers of vehicles.
    

Domo arigatou gozaimasu — thank you very much — for understanding this situation. It is thrilling that so many people would like to participate; but since the huge outpouring started only in early July, we cannot ramp up fast enough to enable so many people to decorate a lantern. With your support, we can be prepared next year to welcome all who would like to participate!
 

— Steve Freedkin, founder & coordinator, Bay Area Peace Lantern Ceremony

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