“We all have different taste in women!” the girl exclaimed, after she and my friend and I had compared the swimsuit lanterns hanging from the trees. Of the three of us we’d each chosen a different one as our favourite.
From nearby we heard the band start up, and we went off to check out the live music, complete with swirling lasers and smoke machine.
This was the Illume Festival of Light, when on two of the cold, long nights of winter, the normally extremely quiet Coromandel Town came to life, with lights, lanterns, music, dancing and food.
The first night was quiet, us having gotten there on the late side just as the rain was stopping. We found pies for dinner and watched the Jan and Ezy Spectacular on stage doing a fantastic job of a variety of songs, from Shania Twain to Billy Idol to Bananarama, complete with costume changes.
In between band sets we wandered the streets, admiring the ultra-creative lanterns, decorated storefronts, and wandering entertainers such as robot man, clowns, and all manner of other creatures draped with fairy lights and glowsticks.
The twinkling lights combined with the wintry feeling made the Canadian in me feel a bit like I was at home at Christmas time, out looking at the neighbourhood light displays.
A keyboard allowed festival-goers to operate a lit-up spiderweb, making a crazy, colourful light show at the whim of whoever was at the controls.
On the second night of the Illume Festival we planned better. We arrived just in time to see the parade, the street lined with a crowd of people all trying to stay dry in the pouring rain. Floats went past with glowing jack-o-lanterns, sunflowers and butterflies, monster faces, and once I even caught sight of an angel.
There was the mandatory Frozen float occupied by Anna and Elsa and Olaf, and some lit-up motorcycles driven by skeleton faces. A tiny engine from the Driving Creek Railway also made an appearance.
After the parade the rain continued, but it seemed to know that we’d had enough, and it stopped just in time for a rather impressive fireworks display.
Then the band started. Tonight it was the Rocking Roller-Coasters, who played THREE energetic sets of 50’s and 60’s hits, from Elvis and Buddy Holly right up to The Doors and The Who, finishing off with an encore of a couple of songs from Grease. The music from that era is so much fun, I simply could not keep myself from dancing!
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Illume Festival, but this was a fantastic way to brighten up the sometimes dreary mid-winter feeling, as well as to celebrate the strong sense of community that seems to exist in this small town.
A big thanks goes out here to the lady in The Source Artists’ Collective who gave us glowsticks so we could feel like part of the festivities!
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Wow…thank you for this wonderful blog. Wish we had you as our PR for Coromandel town!
Would you allow us to use these photos and blog to help with our sponsorship drive for funding and advertising? We would give you credits of course… Kind Regards
I’m glad you liked it Karen! You can hire me to be Coromandel Town’s PR rep anytime! 😉 I’m sending you an email about using the photos and blog.
Hi Jenny
I live in Coromandel Town and made lots of costumes for the Illume Festival.
Problem.
I haven’t a single photo of my costumes…you have one of my angel costume on your blog…and a fabulous shot it is too! I made 8 outfits for the parade which were all similar; shiny skirts with big hoops in the bottom, bubble-wrap jackets and hats etc. Also one for myself, I was the one in lit-up white fur in my wheelchair which had blue el-wire on the wheels. I also made sequinned spacey outfits for Ezy and the girls in the Jan and Ezy Show.
Do you have photos of any of my outfits? If you do, would you be willing to send some of them to me? This would be purely for me, not for publication, but as a record of what I created….I’ve made so many things over the years which have vanished without a trace…
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kindest Regards
Jayne
Hi Jenny, thanks for posting such amazing photos of my work! Glad you enjoyed the swimsuit lanterns. If possible may I have a copy, there are several photos, purely for my own record as I always forget to photograph my work.
Regards
Andrea Gaia
Hi Andrea,
I’m glad you liked my photos! I’m sending you an email about them.
Jenny