Feast of Lanterns

Pacific Grove's Feast of Lanterns is an annual celebration, over 100 years old, of the legend of the Blue Willow, a traditional Chinese story. However, in Pacific Grove's version of the story, the fleeing couple turns into Monarch Butterflies (because Pacific Grove likes to be known as "Butterfly Town, USA"), as opposed to birds, to flee the evil Mandarin.

The Feast of Lanterns skit is performed on the last Saturday of every July, and the small town of Pacific Grove crams onto Lover's Point Beach to watch the show. In support of the town-wide holiday, lanterns can be seen hanging on the porches of many local homes. Lantern soup and lantern pie are delicious delicacies to be found exclusively at the "Feast of Lanterns." The afternoon preceding the Feast of Lanterns, the city holds its annual Pet Parade, which circles its main street, Lighthouse Avenue.

The Feast of Lanterns holiday ends with fireworks over Lover's Point Beach, and Queen Topaz and her peasant lover, Chang, escaping safely together.

The Royal Court

The Royal Court of Feast of Lanterns Princesses is a group of 8-9 high school aged girls who are citizens of Pacific Grove. Each princess is a different gem (i.e., Princess Pearl, Princess Tourmaline, Princess Turquoise, etc.), and they are led by the Feast of Lanterns Queen, who is known as Queen Topaz. Queen Topaz is the star of the annual skit. The Royal Court spends their entire month of July establishing themselves in the community, visiting retirement homes, preschools, and other events while giving out their personal signed trading cards, which young girls especially enthusiastically collect throughout the summer. :D

External links

* http://www.feastoflanterns.org
* http://www.feast-of-lanterns.org/index.htm The Official Site