Reserve Your Lantern for the Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawai‘i Ceremony

The sight of thousands of lanterns aglow on the tide draws 50,000 people to Ala Moana Beach Park for the Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawai‘i Ceremony, a Memorial Day tradition. The 2023 ceremony will take place on Monday, May 29, and as the first fully in-person public event since 2019, it may pull an even larger audience this year. For those who want to participate by writing messages to late loved ones on the lanterns and placing them in the water at sunset, there are 6,000 lanterns available. In the past, the lanterns were handed out on a first-come, first-serve basis starting in the morning.

SEE ALSO: Your Essential Guide to the 2019 Lantern Floating Ceremony

New this year, an online reservation system has been established to increase efficiency. Starting on Monday, May 15, at 7 a.m., visit lanternfloatinghawaii.com to reserve a single lantern. Multiple pickup dates will be available leading up to Memorial Day at Shinnyo-en Hawai‘i at 2348 S. Beretania St., and day-of pickup at the Lantern Pickup Tent at Ala Moana Beach Park will also be an option.

Photo: Courtesy of Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawai‘i

“We would also encourage families and groups to share a lantern so that more people can participate and share their remembrances of loved ones,” says Rev. Craig Yamamoto, community relations liaison of Shinnyo-en Hawai‘i. Duplicate reservations will be canceled.

If you can’t make it out to the ceremony, you can still take part by submitting a message online, whether it’s a prayer or wish or remembrance. Online submissions will appear on Collective Remembrance Lanterns, which are floated from canoes, and you can track your message through the Shinnyo Lantern Floating app. The ceremony will be broadcasted on KHON2 (FOX), KHII and CW and streamed live on Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawai‘i and KHON2’s website, Facebook page and YouTube.

Photo: Courtesy of Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawai‘i

Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawai‘i Ceremony, Monday, May 29, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Ala Moana Beach, lanternfloatinghawaii.com, @shinnyolanternfloatinghawaii