Burning the Clocks in Brighton 2009

Burning the Clocks

If you find Christmas has been overly commercialised you should head down to Madeira Drive in Brighton this evening for a Burning the Clocks event.

This is a family-centred event organised by the Same Sky Community Arts Group.

Same Sky have published what amounts to a manifesto which explains the event, and which is well worth quoting:

“Burning the Clocks is an antidote to the excesses of the commercial Christmas. People gather together to make paper and willow lanterns to carry through their city and burn on the beach as a token for the end of the year. No lantern is better for its purpose than any other, all are unique to the maker and precious but all are given up to be burnt to greet the lengthening days.

Burning the Clocks combines a family centred, workshop based, seasonal parade with a high quality fire show and fireworks for the whole city. The lantern makers become part of the show as they invest the lanterns with their wishes, hopes, and fears and then pass them into the fire. Same Sky are masters at creating new urban rituals to replace those traditional festivals that were lost in the dash to be new and non superstitious.

These new events take elements of the past…. the delight in seasons… the celebration of place and home…the giving and sharing of thoughts and wishes… and put them into a secular format that can be enjoyed by all regardless of faith or creed.”

The parade begins in New Road and passes up North Street before ending in Madeira Drive where a large bonfire and fireworks display will conclude the Brighton event.

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Posted by Joseph Lewis on December 22, 2009. Filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry