Ipplepen Lantern Procession

For the last ten years Ipplepen has held a lantern procession to celebrate the feast of St Andrew, the Patron Saint of our Church, on 30th November. In 2020 Covid prevented us having a procession, so we had a window wanderland through the village instead, which was so successful that last year we combined the two. The procession, with lanterns of all shapes and sizes prettily lit up with fairy lights, is magical. In Covid-less times we end up at the church for mulled wine, mince pies and prizegiving; it is a great way for the children to start off the festive season. Over the years I have had enormous fun helping the school and the children conjure up everything from Pikachu to the Starship Enterprise to the Loch Ness Monster out of willow and paper, and I always make a huge one for myself which is usually too big for me to carry on my own and often too big to actually get out of the sitting room and so needs some last minute design modifications! I think my favourite is the Viking Longship, which needed four of us to carry it and was too big to get through the Church door!