Creatures of the deep shine bright

Dunedin's long, dark winter nights were made bright yesterday with jellyfish, penguins and boats aglow at the Dunedin Midwinter Carnival.

The winter solstice celebrations at First Church, in Moray Pl, celebrated a theme of "Creatures of the Deep", Dunedin Midwinter Carnival publicist Jess Covell said.

The theme extended beyond the ocean to any waterway, providing for the wide range of lanterns on display "celebrating the fascinating creatures above and below the surface", Miss Covell said.

The inside of the church was set up like a pond scene.

Frogs and lily pads, eels and taniwha and paradise shelducks all radiated.

There were albatrosses, fish, whales, boats — "all sorts".

"It looks beautiful," Miss Covell said.

Up to 150 people attended each of the four sold-out weekend lantern-making workshops in the leadup to the annual event, she said.

Workshop weekends became increasingly complex and lantern-making progressed from a simple jellyfish, to a fish, then a penguin and finally — the most difficult to create — a boat.

Last night workshop attendees, and their creations, joined a procession around the church grounds, to focus some of the attention on the community lanterns, alongside the bigger items on display.

Thousands of people were expected at the family-friendly event.

Tonight’s 6pm slot sold out on Thursday, Miss Covell said.