As the sun sets behind the mountains and twilight engulfs the shores of Trout lake, echoes of ancient music fills the evening air.  Dancers blow flames high into the sky while fantastical creatures of every type appear alive in a soft glow.  It's time for...

You are invited to join fellow geocachers to take part in a magical festival of light.

Bring:  a blanket to sit on.  Snacks would also be appreciated.  Please remember that this will be an outdoor evening event so finger food in covered containers would be best.  Nothing fancy is expected.  It is only a picnic.  There will also be several concessions close by.  Of course, it would be nice if you brought a lantern (home made is best) to light our site.

Insect repellent may be an idea and perhaps a long sleeved shirt as it may get cooler during the evening.  Flip flops/sandals are not recommended since there will be bottlenecks of crowds and feet tend to get stepped on in the dark.  Most importantly, PACK LIGHT.

This geocaching event is in conjunction with "Illiminares" -- a lantern festival held every year at Trout Lake.  For those of you that have not been to this festival, I promise you will be hooked.  It's truly one of Vancouver's most beautiful events.

Hints:

Pets are welcome at Trout Lake during the event but if your dog is timid around crowds or is prone to be scared of loud noises this event is not for them.

Children will love this family oriented event.  However, it is easy to loose youngsters in the crowd during the evening.  One way to keep children in sight is to adorn them with glow necklaces, glow earrings etc.  These can be found at dollar stores around the city.  Lost and Found booths will be situated on both sides of the lake.

Parking will become difficult as the night wears on.  It is best to arrive early.  The excitement around the lake causes many competent people to become directionally impaired.  If you arrive by automobile, bring your GPS and way point where you parked.  You will thank me later.  For those that do not wish to drive, there is a Skytrain station located at Commercial and Broadway.  It is a bit of a hike from Skytrain but no more than the average North Van cache.

Scruffster and a few volunteers will be at the lake by 5PM to set up.  Feel free to join us if you wish to arrive early.
 
 

Lanterns:  Although it would be nice if everyone brought some type of lantern, it is definitely not required.  Remember that pretty much anything can be used to light their way in the dark.  Items I've seen used as a lantern include:
---- A cheese grater with a candle stuck inside.
---- Painted paper lunch bags.
---- Rolled up construction paper with holes punched through.
---- balloons filled with glow sticks.
---- milk cartons with designs cut along the sides and filled with coloured tissue paper.

Of course, there are some very creative people who go all out for this event...

It's not all that hard to make something simple with impact.  Here are a few lantern links:

-- Ty Pennington's Paper lanterns can be made small or large.  Just tie it up a string and carry it with you.
-- Basic Chinese Lanterns make an excellent project for children. 
-- Tin can lanterns look quite nice from a distance. 
-- I tried this LANTERN out and it looked really good.  You don't have to be exact when folding it up.  With some extra tape and a bit of patience the lantern can be doubled or tripled in size using regular 8 X10 paper.  Of course, thin paper is the best and with some basic computer skills you can print out any design you want on the paper before making it.

Try using glow sticks instead of candles.  It's an excellent, non-flammable alternative.  Many people bring long sticks to cary their lanterns high about the crowd.

There will be a total of 15 caches set up around the lake.  Since these caches will be illuminated they will be an easy find.  However, it will also make these caches susceptible to muggle theft.  There is little doubt that one or more caches will be muggled before the evening is over so it will be in your best interest to act fast.  The co-ordinates for these caches will be posted at dusk.  Inside each cache there will be a slip of paper which the finder will keep.  At the Geocaching table the slip of papers collected will be signed by the finder and deposited into a container for a prize draw. Only one slip of paper per cache for each geocache handle will be accepted.  There will also be FTF slips in each container for an additional draw.  Find one cache.  Find them all!  More cache finds will better your chance to win a prize. 

Prizes:

Awards will be handed out during a SHORT ceremony at 10:30PM for the following categories:

Best lantern design,
Children's lanterns,
Completion and/or FTF for the illuminated multicache,
and door prizes. 

Thank you to Mr. Gigabyte, 911Turbos, WildWigglyBeanz, Caveguru and TeamMuppet for donating some excellent prizes.

If you have any donations, questions, ideas or comments, please email Scruffster at: scruff69@hotmail.com