Lantern Lighting Celebration

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About

11th Annual Lantern Lighting Celebration at Lakewood Cemetery

Lakewood Cemetery invites the public to its 11th Annual Lantern Lighting Celebration the weekend of September 19-20, 2025. The event offers an opportunity for people to remember loved ones and celebrate their lives by decorating then releasing floating, candlelit lanterns onto Lakewood’s private lake. This event is open to the public.

At the event, people can decorate a paper lantern sleeve with favorite pictures, messages and personal sayings, poems and other symbols of remembrance. At dusk, in a beautiful ceremony, attendees gather to release their lanterns onto Lakewood’s ten-acre lake, as the names of loved ones are read aloud accompanied by the stirring sound of bagpipes. The effect of the candlelit lanterns floating on the lake is breathtaking and magical, connecting people to their loved ones and to others who are remembering and grieving.

Throughout the event, guests can enjoy live music, food and refreshments from local food trucks, and the beauty of Lakewood’s scenic grounds. Self-guided tour brochures of the cemetery will also be available.

WHERE: Lakewood Cemetery

3600 Hennepin Avenue

Minneapolis, MN 55408

WHEN: September 19-20

5:00 – 8:30 p.m. each night*

*Attendees have the option of choosing one of two evenings to honor their loved ones – Friday, September 19th or Saturday, September 20th..

COST: Admission is free, but there is a fee per lantern: Lanterns are $10 advance / $15 day of (Admission is free)

RESERVE

LANTERNS: https://www.lakewoodcemetery.org/event/lantern-lighting-celebration/

 MORE INFO: https://www.lakewoodcemetery.org/event/lantern-lighting-celebration/