There are many ways to put up a display for Illumination Night. Everything from a few candle lanterns on the porchrail, to glittering laser light shows, to the timeless and traditional hanging lantern displays. The Erie Village Illumination Night and Porch Lantern Festival was inspired by the Grand Illumination at Oak Grove on Martha's Vinyard, held annually since the 19th century. The charming porch-front Victorian cottages of Oak Grove, painted in cheerful colors, look magical decorated with traditional candle and bulb-lit paper and silk lanterns. I think the homes in Erie Village are just as beautiful when dressed in their Illumination Night finery.

First you'll need lanterns. The selection of lanterns available can be overwhelming. Everything from colorful round paper to very elaborate hand made and hand-painted fancy silk - and everything in between. There are all shapes and sizes and prices available online. Here is a page with some shopping links to get your collection started. We recommend purchasing your lanterns early, as inventory with many suppliers gets low toward the end of summer.

Some of your neighbors go with a theme for their display. Flag themes, color or shape themes (such as those that compliment the exterior paint), fantasy, etc. But most lantern displays are just a collection of mix and matched lanterns. You can decide what look you want to go for before you buy, or just shop for lanterns that strike your fancy. When starting out, most folks use inexpensive lanterns to fill out the bulk of their collection, then add one or two fancier lanterns each year. Even if you never buy a fancy lantern, you can still make a breathtaking display just with the most affordable paper lanterns. Check out this Pinterest page for some inspiration. Fabric lanterns, especially nylon, will hold up better against the elements if you have an exposed porch or plan to leave your display up longer.

A stunning example of using a color theme:

Start with your porch. Many EV residents have expanded their displays to include the yard, hanging lanterns in the trees and lining their walks with luminary bags. Don't let the scale of some displays intimidate you or prevent you from participating. Your display doesn't have to be big to be beautiful. Some of the prettiest displays (and some of my favorites) are restrained and elegant. Any and all level of participation is encouraged - mass participation creates the magical spectacle. Even though there are a few categories of display competitions, the event itself is not about outdoing one another. It's about celebrating our beautiful homes and dressing them up for a special evening. Get into the spirit of it. Let the kids help. Consider opening your porch to visiting neighbors on Open Porch Night!



Luminarias lining the front walk and steps:

L. Jess
Candle-lit lanterns are beautiful and traditional, but unless you plan to monitor your display with an extinguisher at the ready, we recommend using electricity. There are several options available for lighting lanterns. Internal lighting such as pendant bulbs, strings of bistro lights, Christmas lights, or battery operated LEDs. I do not recommend solar powered lighting. Some folks have used spot lighting to illuminate their lanterns externally, either from the front or backlit.





We're partial to the traditional paper and silk lanterns. Much of our display is lit by incandescent bistro strings hanging from tiny brass cup hooks. The cup hooks are discrete and weatherproof, so we leave them up year round. If you use cup hooks, we recommend solid brass, which will darken slightly but not rust. For the cables, we like FEIT brand bistro lights. They're good quality, made for use outdoors, and come with several convenient features. The bulb sockets hang down a few inches from the cable, allowing room to either attach a lightweight lantern and drop the bulb down inside. The bulbs are spaced at 2 or 3 ft intervals, the ideal width for average lanterns. At each bulb interval, there is an eyelet to allow you to hang the cable onto hooks on the soffits, fascia, or ceiling of your porch. FEIT bistro lights can be purchased in different lengths. The incandescent strands with 11 watt bulbs give a warm, soft glow to your display. The sockets and cables are also sturdy enough to add extensions for longer lanterns.

Since the displays will be left up all week during the festival this year, you may want to consider weatherproofing your lanterns as much as possible. Place your more delicate and paper lanterns under the porch roofs and eaves where possible, and fasten your lanterns with cable ties. If your lanterns get wet, wait until they're dry to handle.




Our porch ceiling is low, so we hang our cables so they hug ceiling and fascia. If you have a tall ceiling on your porch, you can hang your cables and lanterns in charming swags. Swagging your cables requires fewer hooks.


In addition to incandescent bistro lights, we also use remote controled battery operated LED lighting in our tree lanterns. This allows us to place lanterns in harder to reach places without stringing any cable. If you choose to use LED lighting, be aware that LEDs are much dimmer and give off a flat spectrum compared to incandescent. They won't have that same "glow". Having said that, if you choose brighter LED lights in warm white, they will still look great. We recommend 12-16 LED lights with remote control such as these, below. We do not recommend solar LEDs, singles, or tealights. They are very dim and greyish as well as short-lived. Even though it's more convenient, battery operated LED lighting is much more expensive to purchase and operate than the equivalent cable lighting display, but they're nice for displays that cannot easily be wired.

This year I've discovered a new type of lighting that I find very exciting. They're cordless LED Flame Bulbs. These bulbs give off an absolutely beautiful and realistic warm flickering flame glow, similar to a gas lamp or torch. The best part is they're USB rechargeable so they can be used in lantern displays were it's difficult to run a cable. These are not weatherproof, please keep them in a protected area. This bulb is available on Amazon:



These flame bulbs also come in traditional electric socket versions, also available on Amazon!

Once you get your lighting figured out and install the hooks for the cable, hanging your lanterns is the next step. Colorado has some unpredictable weather, so we like to secure our lanterns to the cable with small zip ties. This protects from gusts of wind and sudden storms. Hang your more delicate lanterns in a more protected spots. If your lanterns do get wet, don't handle them until they're completely dry.

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Besides using bistro lights, Christmas light strings also work beautifully, either to light your display or just to add some extra sparkle. Mini lights can be dropped down into the lanterns, or added as a sparkling backdrop such as this beautiful display below:
Pam Vanden Berg

No matter what kind of display you put up, remember that Illumination Night is about celebrating our beautiful homes and our wonderful neighborhood. Joining in on the fun adds to the magical spectacle and brings a sense of community, helping make Erie Village one of the most desirable places to live in Colorado.

If you have any questions about Illumination Night, how to install your display, or any additions to this web page, please contact Michelle.