Okay, the first BeltLine lantern parade was in what…June? I went, and then too much time passed and it seemed irrelevant to post about it a month after the fact – the internet moves so fast! BUT, on Saturday, October 2 the Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons et al will be holding another to close out Art on the BeltLine!!! YOU HAVE TO GO!!!
I mean, it was really truly one of the best things I’ve ever done/seen in Atlanta (and let’s not forget I went to the torch parade and, like, handball at the 1996 Olympics). And while there I took a million blurry photos on my phone, and here are some. You can’t see the people really – I think someone said there were 300?
We were like, “‘Lantern parade’ – this sounds ‘cute’!” and packed some beverages and a leftover stocking-stuffer glow stick and wandered over to the Krog Street meeting point only to have our minds BLOWN and our single orange glow stick shared amongst three people SHAMED by the turnout and skilled craftmanship of the lanterns. For example, these lantern people below were probably 12 feet tall! Maybe taller! 
We were totally caught up in the Atlanta BeltLine spirit for those two precious hours! At one point I was over-excitedly like, “Look guys, it’s Liz Coyle!” and instead of my friends saying, “Who?” or “You really need to leave this city for a while and gain some perspective,” they got inappropriately enthusiastic too. “Liz Coyle? Where?!?!!”
By the end of it, our feet were dirty and we were each secretly crying tears of BeltLine joy and pretending like it was just the harsh lantern light drying out our eyes or whatever.
To conclude the grand event, City Councilmember Kwanza Hall escorted the parade participants into Park Tavern, where we crashed two classy wedding receptions looking like a rag-tag group of refugees from the Inman Park Festival.
There’s a lantern making workshop this Sunday at the “Krewe Captain’s Quarters” – STEP UP YOUR LANTERN GAME if you are going to come to this parade because these people are HARD CORE. 
Legitimately good photographs and all the info you need for lantern making or parade here!
Here’s the map of the October 2 route – this time they’ll start in Reynoldstown and go north just past the Telephone Factory.
Tags: beltline, krewe of the grateful gluttons, lantern parade
Did you like need the limo or did you ride a bus home after the parade and party? The Olympic Torch would have been better in our neighborhood but the torch was so late that folks ran out of beer. I’m sure the Krewe won’t let that happen.
You know, I don’t remember how we got home…
please tell me that organic limeade + gin will not be involved again.
SOME PEOPLE should communicate that they have a CITRUS ALLERGY before chugging 2 pints of limeade. And it was vodka, not gin.
i am seriously SO glad i was a part of this. i almost didn’t make it. GO! YOU WON’T REGRET IT! my giant thumbelina flower wouldn’t miss it for the world…
also, we had one person park at the destination ending point to shuttle the drivers back to the cars. then the drivers drove back to peidmont to pick up the rest of the paraders + kids.