Urgent plea for volunteers to come forward and save New Mills lantern parade

On Monday September 5 a decision is being made on whether or not the Lantern Parade in New Mills will go ahead.

The move comes after New Mills Festival director Lyn Bannister made an emotional plea on Facebook on Tuesday calling for more volunteers for the lantern parade.

Speaking to The Advertiser she said: “There is the very real possibility the lantern parade will not be going ahead this year because we don’t have enough people willing to volunteer to help marshal the event and keep everyone safe.”

The lantern parade takes place on Saturday September 24 and more than 100 volunteers are needed to help with things from putting up lanterns to litter picking.

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Lyn said: “Yesterday we had 12 people – that was it.

"Thankfully overnight more people have come forward but it’s still not enough.

"We have 7,500 taking part in the procession and we need to make sure these people are passing through safely and no-one is hurt or there are any bottlenecks en route.

"The marshals are the most important part of the event and without them we cannot safely go ahead.”

Currently there are six people down to do the four hour shifts in The Torrs but 30 people are needed.

Lyn said: “There are 12,000 people in New Mills so I’m sure we must be able to find 25 people willing to give up their time so the parade can go ahead.

"I know a lot of events have struggled this year to find volunteers but coming out of the pandemic when these fun activities like this can now go ahead it seems a shame that we are talking about cancelling due to a lack of help.”

Lyn says if enough people come forward to marshal, the event will go ahead and a final decision will be made on Monday.

She added: “We would love to hear from anyone who can spare a few hours that evening.”

Anyone who would like to volunteer should contact Lyn on [email protected] or 07753 842861.

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