Children prepare to launch their decorated sky lanterns at the Whitchurch Arts "Bedtime Earth Hour" event.
A large crowd of local residents, young and old, came to the Whitchurch Arts Earth Hour events on Saturday at the Gill Nethercott Centre. The hall was decorated with artwork made by the children of Whitchurch.
World Wildlife Federation Earth Hour
Children and their parents were treated to a wonderful puppet show at the 6pm “Bedtime Earth Hour” event.
At 6:30pm, it was time for lights out in celebration of Earth Hour (a bit early, but just right for the kiddies that had to head off to bed).
The stage was set for a funny puppet show. The "60", decorated by kids at Oak Tree Nursery, refers to the 60 minutes in Earth Hour.
A wild animal puppet show, accompanied by music performed by Gillian Anderson, thrilled the kids and their parents. It was put on a trio of performers with next to no experience; Paula Stead and Katya & Andrew Reeves-Hall.
Afterward, families decorated their sky lanterns by the light of the setting sun ~ many with pictures and wishes for a greener Earth future. They lit, launched and watched in awe and amazement as their sky lanterns took to the skies above Whitchurch. At one point, a line of six or seven were visible making their way, high in the sky, south towards Winchester; just one decided to perch itself in a nearby tree!
The first lantern to take flight was one decorated by the children at the Oak Tree Nursery. Lanterns decorated by Rising Fives Pre-School and Whitchurch Primary School also took flight during the course of the evening events. Pupils from Testbourne decorated and launched a lantern at the later event. (Watch a video of our earlier test launch).
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