AAPI Montclair will host its third annual Lantern Festival for Justice and Remembrance this coming Sunday, May 21, from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in Edgemont Park, Montclair. The event will be moved to June 4 in the event of rain.

The community is invited to join AAPI Montclair as they illuminate the park with hundreds of lanterns to remember those killed and harmed by violence and injustice, including anti-Asian hate. There will be performances, speakers, family-friendly activities, food vendors, and more.

The festival will feature performances by Vanguard Theater Company, Mariah Ayscue (spoken word and poetry), and In-Visible (a dance piece choreographed by Jesse Obremski). Musical performances include BARD, The Passing Notes, Jazz House Kids, The Mellman Brothers, and KOE. Delicious treats from Rain Bao, Ms. Fu’s Yummy Food Truck, Urban Leaf Cafe and Guerriero Gelato, Twelve Hot Dog Lady, Rolling Yatai, and Silantro Taco will also be available.

Admission is free with donations accepted at Give in May. More details about this event can be found on the AAPI Montclair website.

With the support of our community, AAPI hopes to cover the cost of the event, support their work, and raise meaningful funds for two organizations whose work to safeguard our shared history illuminates our path forward:

  • Friends of the Howe House is a community coalition dedicated to preserving the historic home of James Howe, the first African American homeowner in Montclair, and the legacy of the local African American community.
  • The Belleville Historical Society is sponsoring a campaign to repair the Belleville Dutch Reformed Church, a National Historic Site where Chinese immigrants fleeing violence in the West were welcomed, and which continues to shelter and honor the remains of the Chinese laborers buried there.

The organizers of the Lantern Festival offer a big thank you to their community partners: Friends of the Howe House, Belleville Historical Society, Montclair Civil Rights Commission, Glen Ridge Diversity and Inclusion Association, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair Community Farms, The Montclair Foundation, Montclair History Center, Montclair Mutual Aid, Montclair Scholarship Fund, Montclair Public Library, Montclair NAACP, League of Women Voters of the Montclair Area, NJ Alliance for Immigrant Justice, NJ Division on Civil Rights, NJ Institute for Social Justice, New Jersey Together – Essex, Returning Citizens Support Group, Out Montclair, Professional Filipino American Youth, SOFIA, Studio Players, Succeed2gether / Montclair Literary Festival, Toni’s Kitchen, Unitarian Universalist Undoing Racism Committee, Vanguard Theater Company, Vietnamese Boat People, Boy Scouts Troop 12 and Troop 12 G Montclair, Be SMART for Kids/Essex, YMCA of Montclair, and YWCA of Northern New Jersey.