Basalt's first-ever Lantern Parade walks down Midland Avenue on the evening of Friday, December 11. The Art Base set up the parade so residents make the lanterns themselves over the weeks before it. The first scheduled lantern-making session is this Sunday, November 15, and the gallery has a drop-off box at the front for the recyclables those lanterns are made from.
If you plan to show up on December 11 and watch, you'll see the end of something that has been building at the gallery all through November. If you want to carry a lantern, the window is open now and closes fast.
Why the Art Base Is Doing This Now
The parade is part of the Art Base's 30th anniversary. The Sopris Sun's July profile of the organization described it as part of those celebrations, sponsored by the Alpenglow Foundation and folded into Basalt's annual Merry on Midland.
The timing matters for another reason. In November 2025 the Art Base paid off the mortgage on its building at 174 Midland Avenue, so the nonprofit now owns its space outright. Executive Director Annie Henninger, who joined in 2024, told the Sopris Sun that ownership lets the organization "truly focus on inclusive, community-centric programming." She also said plainly, "The Art Base is here to stay."
That's the backdrop for a parade the Art Base calls "something we make together" rather than something to watch. Its event page invites individuals, families, friends, local businesses and community groups to build lanterns ahead of time and carry them down Midland. The event page calls it Basalt's "first-ever annual Lantern Parade." So the plan is to make it a yearly thing.
The Build Window, Session by Session
The Art Base lists five ways to take part in lantern making before parade night. Four are scheduled sessions where you make your own lantern. The fifth is a drop-in public lantern project in the gallery's Art Commons.
| Date | Session | Hours | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, Nov. 15 | Crafternoon: Lantern Making | 10 a.m. to noon | First scheduled session |
| Wednesdays–Saturdays, Nov. and Dec. | Art Commons drop-in | 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Public lantern project at the front of the gallery; free and open to all |
| Tuesday, Dec. 1 | Community Night: Lantern Making | 5 to 7 p.m. | Weeknight evening option |
| Thursday, Dec. 3 | Hues + Brews: Lantern Making | 6 to 8 p.m. | Adult-only LGBTQ+ art and social night |
| Sunday, Dec. 6 | Crafternoon: Lantern Making | 10 a.m. to noon | Last scheduled session, five days before the parade |
The table shows how the schedule is built. After this Sunday, the next scheduled session isn't until December 1. Three of the four scheduled sessions fall in the ten days before the parade. If you want to build your own lantern without cramming it into the final week, November 15 is the early chance.
The Art Commons works differently. It's open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., all through November and December, and you drop in to work on the Art Base's public lantern rather than build one of your own. It's free and open to all, and it's the one lantern activity running every week between now and the parade.
You don't have to come in at all. The Art Base says you can build a lantern at home and bring it on December 11. Henninger made the same point to the Sopris Sun: "I want people to know that they can make a lantern at home and bring it to the parade. We'll focus on everyday materials."
What Goes Into a Lantern
"Everyday materials" means your recycling bin. The Art Base is collecting clean, dry plastic recyclables for its November and December lantern projects, specifically:
- Large sparkling water bottles
- Soda bottles
- Milk jugs
- Large almond milk cartons
- Juice cartons
- Large plastic containers with lids
Drop them in the box at the front of the gallery.
So even someone who never picks up a glue stick has a part in this. Every jug that goes into the box before December 6 becomes raw material for someone else's lantern at a Crafternoon.
The light source has one firm rule, and it comes from the conditions this year. The Sopris Sun reported that Henninger expected the fire danger to persist. She said that "people can plug a headlamp in their lantern, or we'll have battery-powered candles. There won't be any open flame." If you're building at home, plan around a headlamp or an LED candle from the start. Retrofitting a lantern built for a real candle is harder than designing for a headlamp from the beginning.
Parade Night on Midland
Everything built through November and early December comes together on Friday, December 11. Merry on Midland runs from 4 to 7:30 p.m., with the tree lighting and activities along Midland Avenue.
The parade fits inside that window:
- 6:15 p.m.: Lantern carriers leave the Art Base at 174 Midland Avenue, at the top of the street.
- The walk: The procession heads down Midland Avenue to Lions Park. The Art Base's listing sets aside 6:15 to 6:30 for it.
- Lions Park: The parade arrives in time for the tree lighting ceremony.
- Afterward: Walkers head back up to the Art Base for snacks, drinks and the opening reception for "Inner Workings: the Art Base Staff Show" and Lindsey Yeager.
The parade is free and open to everyone. The Art Base describes the route as accessible and specifically welcomes people walking or using a wheelchair, mobility scooter, stroller or other mobility aid.
The route runs a few blocks from the gallery where the lanterns were made down to the tree lighting at Lions Park, then loops back to the gallery for the reception.
The Same Five Weeks at TACAW
The lantern-making window runs alongside a busy stretch at the Arts Campus at Willits. That gives the Basalt calendar two anchors between now and mid-December: the Art Base on Midland and TACAW in Willits.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: TACAW's Valley Winter Kickoff Party, with a film and a dance party.
- Sunday, Nov. 29: The third annual Basalt Holiday Market, presented by TACAW in partnership with the Town of Basalt, noon to 5 p.m. It's free and features local artists, jewelers, bakers and more.
- Tuesday, Dec. 1: 123 Andrés, a bilingual children's music act, at TACAW. That's the same date as the Art Base's Community Night lantern session, 5 to 7 p.m. on Midland.
- Tuesday, Dec. 15: DanceAspen's "In Progress," a rehearsal event with Jamar Roberts.
- Friday, Dec. 18: "A Consensual Christmas," an improv comedy show at 8 p.m.
December 1 is the crowded date. A household with kids could do lantern making on Midland in the early evening and catch 123 Andrés at TACAW the same day. Late November is calmer. Between the November 15 Crafternoon and Community Night on December 1, the Art Base has no scheduled make-your-own sessions, so the Art Commons public lantern is the lantern activity on offer. TACAW's kickoff party and the Holiday Market fill that stretch.
Put together, the first make-your-own session is this Sunday morning at 174 Midland Avenue, the last is December 6, and at 6:15 p.m. on December 11 the finished lanterns head down to Lions Park.
Lloyd has walked Midland Avenue through plenty of Basalt winters, and a parade the town builds itself is exactly the kind of local detail he thinks people deserve to hear about. If you'd like to talk about what life near Midland and Willits looks like in any season, reach out to Lloyd Tucker to schedule a tour or request a valuation.
