Sky lanterns gathering

Hi all,

Two months ago I witnessed sky lanterns floating across the sky in St Albans. They were launched not simultaneously, but within 10-20 seconds of each other. It was a pretty sight, but it wasn't anything special. It didn't feel epic.

Then it hit me. Why not organise a gathering of people and launch hundreds of these together? You know, do it properly like what these people do in Asia every year. I pulled out my phone, opened up the notepad and keyed in three words "Sky lantern flashmob".

As with many ideas, I soon forgot about it. Weeks passed, and we did another flashmob. You may remember reading about it, or even attending it. It was Angry Birds Day, officially sanctioned by Rovio Mobile. We learnt a lot from organising it.

On a recent founders meetup at our little studio hideout in Shoreditch, we were bouncing around ideas when I remembered that I had what I thought was a cool idea from a couple of months ago. I picked up my phone and navigated to my notes apps, and there it was "Sky lantern flashmob".

To cut a short story shorter, we decided that the 'flashmob' (I use the term flashmob loosely) would be on Saturday 5 February to coincide with the beginning of Chinese New Year.



If you've seen the new HSBC advert with the hundreds of sky lanterns floating to the heavens - that is exactly the general idea on what we are attempting to achieve, but in London.

We've been thinking hard about where we could hold such a gathering. My first thought was the Millennium Bridge. It is an iconic bridge in London, and would be a magnificent backdrop to the event. But the proximity of buildings around does concern me. We do not want to be responsible for causing the third Great Fire of London!

We've identified Primrose Hill as being suitable for launching sky lanterns, but if you have any suggestions on alternative locations please let us know below.

Due to the nature of sky lanterns, we can only launch them when there is no to little wind and definitely not when it is raining. If the weather does not suit us, we will have to postpone it to another date.

What you will need to do:

- RSVP here or on Facebook
- Get a couple of (if possible wire-free) sky lanterns. You can get this at most places now. I've seen them on sale at Cotswolds, Tesco, Hawkin's Bazaar, Amazon, play.com, Firebox.com etc.
- Bring matches, fire lighters etc.
- Have fun

Jon

http://about.me/jonchoo
http://www.lestudio52.com