Feast Of Lanterns

After hearing so much about the Feast of Lanterns the past few years, I was excited to take a car full of girls and meet up with some friends. The décor was festive and there was enough to keep us busy as we checked out the vendors, live music stage, food trucks and beer garden. The downside was the limited number of ‘potties’ and long lines. Overall, it was a beautiful night full of smiles.

Such a fun time! Love music, tons of food, and I am not sure if it is nonsmoking, but there was no one smoking that I noticed.
I loved the camaraderie feel. My feet were killing me, so every time we ordered food, we asked strangers if we could sit at their tables. Everyone said yes and several struck up conversations with us.
I have no place in my home for a paper lantern, but the ones for sale were so pretty!

This is one of the oldest festivals in Indianapolis. It is so cool to check out the artfully crafted lanterns. When the sun goes down, the lanterns look amazing. In one tent, there’s a silent auction for some of the one-​off lanterns.
Don’t be put off by the Eastside location. It’s a cool little neighborhood with very friendly residents.
There are many food options (many more than a few years ago before the onslaught of food trucks) and they have added a beer garden across the street.
About a dozen arts/​crafts vendors have tents set up so you can spend an hour or so browsing/​buying.
There’s a fairly large stage where local and regional music acts perform all day and into the night.

Quaint little neighborhood festival. Fund-​raising booths for the various eastside neighborhoods, a few crafts, some gorgeous lanterns for auction or sale. Food trucks and food vendors, bands. There’s really not a lot to do here — just a chance for the neighborhood to get together and hang out — but as you hang out waiting for the lanterns to be lit and running into people you know, you do start to feel that cozy kind of neighborhood feeling.

Hello Feast, finally we meet, and how fine you are. For so long now I’ve heard of this «just darling, romantic, quaint and unique» glowing festival on the Near East side but had never been around for it. And *poof* here we are: together.
And *poof* you bring the Duos truck at just the right time when we’re looking for dinner at dusk on a Saturday. Oh my you Duos (I’ll save the specifics for another review but Duos… you give Indiana food a beautiful name).
Tucked in between bridges and across the street from Brookside library (adorability went through the roof when I turned the corner and saw the festival on one side & the library on the other — boom: adorable).
Parking might seem like an issue but there was ample room on side streets.
A mix of fair foods, Duos and Baskin Robbins (here ye, here ye we need a boutique ice cream truck in Indy — STAT).
We sat & lounged & laughed & waited for the lanterns to be lit so we could feast upon there lights, then I realized that we were already feasting upon them before they were lit — gawking at the glorious lanterns. Then, they lit. And things got a whole lot more cozy.
I’m down for this cause of feasting & lanterns & the festival raises awareness for NESCO & that’s a glorious cause in itself.

Three years ago, this event was where I went with my now-​husband on our first date, so it holds a special place in my heart. Although I think its food and retail selections have improved since then (I was reminded a little of a hippie-​fied outdoor flea market), it had Blue Bunny Ice Cream, the Reverend Peyton and the love of my life, so I was perfectly content.

This was a great local event promoting nonprofit organizations and cultural backgrounds of the surrounding neighborhoods. I had food from a place called Duos. Amazing tofu pita with a fresh bean salad with it. The lanterns were an amazing extra touch and added a nice atmosphere.
It lost a point for me because of the music. There was a band at the end that took an hr to set up. They were just okay. Overall I would recommend this event. Family event :)

How did I not know how cool this was? I stopped in randomly with my niece, because I needed to kill some time tonight, and we had a good time. I am probably missing lots of info about this event, such as *why* there’s a Feast of Lanterns, or what cultural significance there was, but we hit the bounce house area– 5 bucks got a wristband for jumping all day. I had to deduct a point for the carnie selling tickets to obviously overage kids– if you’re taller than me, you are too tall to be jumping with 2 year olds– and I personally could’ve used more signage/​info once I arrived. Still, we got to see the actual lighting of the lanterns (which my niece adored), and I had a yummy plate from Da Blue Lagoon, which was awesome because I still mourn their restaurant and was glad to find out that they cater now. Hopefully, I’ll be back next year with more knowledge!