With Open Studios Washed Out, Jamaica Plain's October Belongs to the Lantern Parade

A Jamaica Pond lantern starts as a recycled soda bottle. Someone covers it in colored tissue paper, puts a light inside, and carries it around the pond after sunset with a few thousand other people. That is how Spontaneous Celebrations describes the lanterns made at its workshops, which youth and adults of all ages attend.

This year the parade is on Saturday, October 17, at dusk, with Sunday, October 18 as the rain date. It also carries more weight than usual. The September storm canceled the other event that normally anchors Jamaica Plain's fall arts calendar, so the lantern workshops and the walk around the pond are what's left of the season.

The weekend that didn't happen

Jamaica Plain Open Studios was scheduled for September 26 and 27, with more than 200 artists showing work at more than 60 sites. On September 25, Jamaica Plain News reported that the nor'easter heading for Boston had canceled both days. It also reported that the event would not be rescheduled this year.

Susan Duprey, Executive Director, explained the decision on behalf of herself and the Jamaica Plain Arts Council Board:

"Unfortunately, we have come to the difficult decision that JPOS 2026 will be cancelled on both Saturday and Sunday, to ensure everyone's safety in unprecedented conditions... Sadly, a JPOS rain date is not feasible given the complexity of the event and group site venue schedules."

The Arts Council asked people to support the artists another way. You can browse this year's digital map, which links to the 2026 artist profiles, and you can follow and share the artists' social media. That keeps the work in front of people. It can't replace a weekend of walking into studios on your own street.

With Open Studios gone, the Lantern Parade is the main community-arts event left on Jamaica Plain's October calendar. You don't just watch it. You show up with something you made or bought for the night.

The parade gets built on Danforth Street first

The workshops are the part of the parade that takes up the most time. Spontaneous Celebrations calls itself "Jamaica Plain's Community Arts Headquarters" and runs lantern-making sessions at its community center before the parade. One of its event listings gives the center's address as 45 Danforth Street, Boston, MA 02130.

Two sessions have already happened: a potluck, lantern-making and dance party on September 25, and a potluck and lantern-making night on October 2. Five more are left, all within the next ten days:

1. Tuesday, October 6, 6 to 8 p.m. Lantern-making workshop
2. Friday, October 9, 6 to 9 p.m. Potluck and lantern-making
3. Tuesday, October 13, 6 to 8 p.m. Lantern-making workshop
4. Wednesday, October 14, 6 to 8 p.m. Lantern-making workshop
5. Thursday, October 15, 6 to 8 p.m. Lantern-making workshop

The October 9 session is the only one left with a potluck and the only three-hour session, so it's the easiest to fit around a work night. The last three sessions run back to back in the week of the parade. The organizer hasn't posted a fee or a list of things to bring for 2026, so check spontaneouscelebrations.org before you go.

The organizer says that by parade night, "several thousand people have made lanterns." Local businesses also sell handmade lanterns in their shops. If none of the weeknights work, the homepage says you can buy a lantern on parade day. The online lantern store lists a lantern starting at $5, with suggested donations of $10, $20, $50 and $100. The store doesn't say whether that $5 price applies at the pond.

The center is also looking for volunteers. Jobs listed include setting up the festival site, preparing materials and making lanterns, helping during the event, supporting the parade itself, and cleaning up afterward. Sign up through the volunteer form on the organizer's site.

What the 2026 listing says about the night itself

The official 2026 details are short: Saturday, October 17, dusk, Jamaica Pond, rain date October 18. The listing doesn't give a meeting spot, a start time or a direction of travel. The organizer's longer description says the parade "proceeds around the pond, bringing a trail of bouncing lights into the darkness that can be seen from all directions."

Past coverage fills in some of the rest, but treat it as past practice, not 2026 instructions. Jamaica Plain News reported last October that handmade lanterns greeted people arriving at the Jamaica Pond Boathouse, and that the evening included apple cider and homemade empanadas. Last year's coverage called it a two-day event. This year's listing names one evening plus a rain date.

Lighting has changed over time too. The organizer describes the original 1984 gathering as a walk with candle-lit lanterns. An event page from 2022 listed both candles and string lights as options. The current store sells an LED fairy light string. No 2026 lighting rule has been published.

Even the edition number varies. The 2026 homepage calls this the 43rd annual parade. Last year, Lantern Parade Coordinator Jess Gard told Jamaica Plain News, "Spontaneous Celebrations has been holding this event for 43 years now. Everybody has warm childhood memories of it, and it's just a beautiful fall tradition."

The organizer estimates that about 4,000 people come to Jamaica Pond each year at sunset, and that many children arrive in full Halloween costume. It traces the event to Dutch tradition. Co-founder Zafiro Patiño described the purpose to Jamaica Plain News last year: "The way that we welcome the night is walking around the Jamaica Pond with a light in our hand. We are bringing a wish…for a good winter." Last year's parade also honored artist Roxana Bentes, who died earlier in 2025. The organizer's homepage still has a photo gallery dedicated to her.

Making a full Saturday of October 17

Since the parade starts at dusk, you have the whole day before it. The Arnold Arboretum's events calendar lists several programs that same Saturday. One is a tour of the oak collection that starts at the Centre Street Gate. The calendar also lists a bike tour, a woodturning exhibit, a mushroom hunt and an Explorers Garden tour elsewhere on the grounds. Check the listing for start times and registration, then head to the pond as the light starts to fade.

Dinner is close by. Jamaica Plain News reported in September that the food trucks Tacoswey and Suya Joint have a temporary spot outside Green Street MBTA station through October. Tacoswey expected to serve Tuesday through Saturday, 3 to 10 p.m., which covers parade day. Suya Joint is there on some days. The same hours also work on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday workshop nights if you want to eat before you start gluing tissue paper.

The rest of October, in order

The parade sits in the middle of a busy month:

• Thursday, October 8, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Jayne Anne Phillips, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who lives locally, gives a free talk at the Jamaica Plain Branch Library about her nonfiction book Small Town Girls. It's on the night before the October 9 potluck workshop.
• Saturday, October 24. The Arboretum's Forest Bathing session, moved from September 26, is now on this date. An autumn tour is also listed, but the calendar shows it as waitlisted.
• Saturday, October 31, noon to 3 p.m. Wicked Plants: A Botanical Halloween is a family-friendly event at the Arboretum. No registration is needed, and children's storytime starts at 1 p.m.

Forest Bathing was first scheduled for September 26, the same Saturday Open Studios was supposed to open, so the 24th is a second chance for anyone who missed it.

If you plan to go to only one workshop, the Friday, October 9 potluck gives you the most time. If it rains on October 17, the parade moves to Sunday the 18th.

Joan has lived in this area for more than three decades, and dates like these, set by neighborhood groups, are the kind of local detail she pays attention to for her clients. If you're thinking about a move in or around Jamaica Plain and want someone who keeps up with the community calendar as closely as the market, Joan Solomont offers a complimentary market consultation, whenever the timing is right for you.