Lantern festival to take place at former Parkwood landfill site

Oct 19, 2024

People will carry a trail of brightly-coloured lanterns through a former landfill site in Sheffield later.

Parkwood Springs is now a mixture of open parkland, woodland and heath, and has habitats for wildlife.

It was previously a sprawling landfill site that operated from the 1970s until 2015, and there were claims that toxins from the site were affecting public health.

Friends of Parkwood Springs said 1,000 people were expected to attend the event, where many of the lanterns have been made by children, families and community groups.

Spokesman Neill Schofield said they ranged from small and beautiful, to something on a grander scale, adding: "We've had massive spiders and snakes, beautiful birds, and a 4m long frog."

He described previous years' events, which have been running in the area since 2007, as an "amazing sight".

"We set off when it's lighter but as the procession goes through the site it gets darker and darker and it's lovely to see how the children react to the lanterns when they're at their best effect."

Two samba bands had been lined up to play at the event, which starts at Shirecliffe Road at 16:30 GMT,

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.