On its surface, the Lantern Fest -- taking place on September 26th at the Kalamazoo Speedway in Alamo Township -- sounds mostly harmless. Thousands gather together, with the big highlight coming at the very end, when more than 2,000 sky lanterns shoot up and illuminate the night sky. But it's not that simple. The event has become the latest battleground in a state and nationwide fight to ban sky lanterns, and it’s pitted Alamo Township officials, residents, protestors and organizers against each other.
Sky Lanterns: A Primer
But before going to Alamo, let’s head a little north, to Otsego. That’s where we meet Andy Webb, the president of Captain Boom Fireworks. Captain Boom has been selling sky lanterns for years. And Webb’s been nice enough to give a demonstration of how one works.
He says a sky lantern is basically a miniature version of a hot air balloon, made out of tissue paper.
"Basically, you want to unfold the lantern," Webb explains as he puffs up the little balloon. "Kind of swing it to fill it with some air."
Then, get a match or a lighter and flare up the little piece of wax inside.
"And when I'm ready to release it, I release it, and there it goes! It goes straight up," Webb says.
Quickly, the lantern rises 500, 600, 700 feet into the air and shoots across a nearby lake. I wonder: should we go chase it down?
"Nope!" Webb yells as the lantern drifts further away. "It'll keep going!...Oh, it's probably, boy, I'll bet that things easily six or 700 feet in the air..."
I ask him: what's the risk of a sky lantern, compared with other fireworks? You know, a one-to-ten kind of scale?
"Haha, one to ten," Webb says. "Well, used properly, you know, any of these things are not that dangerous. But I've noticed over the years that I've done fireworks for 36 years, the first they do is look at my hands to see if I have all my fingers. And I do! Because I do it safely.I also ride motorcycles, I teach courses. And if you properly manage the risk in anything you do, it can work out pretty well for you."
"So to answer the question," he continues, "How do I rank these? It's like being with a candle or any other open flame. You need to be careful around it. So personally, I don't think there's much danger. It's fairly low."
The Birth of Lantern Fest
Lantern Fest director Spencer Humiston agrees with that assessment. When he and a friend first brought these lanterns over from Southeast Asia to the United States, they weren’t thinking about risk. They just liked the idea of a big party with a giant, lantern-filled spectacle at the end. But he says after his first event, he noticed people started seeing it as something more.
"And a lot of times, I get really choked up. Like, wow! This is a really vulnerable thing to put out there, you know? And it's that kind of event! There's a real sense of rawness and vulnerability through the whole event."
"They're out there for pretty emotional reasons," he says. "People put off lanterns to celebrate the lives of someone who's passed away, someone who has cancer, or maybe themselves have cancer."
It hits even more on the morning after an event, when Humiston and his team pick up lanterns.
"We end up reading a lot of them," Humiston says. "And a lot of times, I get really choked up. Like, wow! This is a really vulnerable thing to put out there, you know? And it's that kind of event! There's a real sense of rawness and vulnerability through the whole event."
A Growing Controversy
Yet when Humiston decided to bring his festival to Michigan this year, he embroiled himself right into the middle of a national and statewide issue that’s been simmering for years. People have called the sky lanterns a nuisance. They say they’ve caused car crashes and nearly caused fires on roofs.
Major fire protection organizations don’t support sky lanterns, and more than twenty states have already banned them. Michigan lawmakers have already proposed bills to get rid of them statewide.
So for some residents, Lantern Fest coming to West Michigan was the last straw. A new online group sprung up on Facebook in July called “Lose The Lanterns.”
"There are major environmental hazards," says Robby Besson, one of the "Lose the Lanterns" organizers. "Agriculture. It lands in a hay field and lands in a bale of hay and a farmer feeds it to its goat or horse, little pieces of bamboo will shred its innards. Barn fires. Hayfield fires.
"Really, if you think about it with an open mind and look at the facts," he says, "There's no safe way to go about it."
The worries aren’t just hypothetical, either. Earlier this year, the fest came under fire when a few stray lanterns at an event in North Carolina caught on a cell phone tower and ignited a large fire right on the property. With six towers within a few miles of the Kalamazoo Speedway, some are worried.
Humiston, though, says the North Carolina incident was the exception. He says the event will have 100 fire extinguishers on hand, plus up to $2 million in insurance to cover any problems. After lighting and releasing more than 40,000 lanterns so far, he says, Lantern Fest has proven itself.
"Really, if you think about it with an open mind and look at the facts, there's no safe way to go about it."
"And over the course of doing now eight or nine events, we always sit down with the local fire guy," Humiston explains. "And if there's anything we don't have on our list of fire and safety procedures we just add it to it."
Tensions Build at a Township Meeting
Last week, though, Humiston had the task of persuading the residents of Alamo Township, at a town meeting. It did not go well.
Here’s the scene for you: Township officials sit in the front of Alamo’s small township hall. Residents flood in, about four dozen total. Sitting right up front are a few protestors from “Lose the Lanterns”. In the far back corner sits Humiston.
Township Supervisor Tony Hyet starts the discussion. He doesn’t like Lantern Fest. But that doesn’t mean he can do anything to stop it.
"The reality of the situation is this: we don't have any ability to deny them," Hyet tells the township. "We don't have it in an ordinance. We don't have any statutory regulations we have to follow that we can stand on to deny the situation."
Fire chief Terry Kizer isn’t a fan, either. He points to the National Fire Protection Association and the International Fire Code, which all say sky lanterns should be banned.
"But at this time, those are not laws," Kizer says. "Those are guidelines. There is nothing we stand on. We don't have an ordinance on them."
Despite that lack of legal standing, though, township officials are still plenty concerned. They ask about wind speeds, cell phone towers, litter. Their big point, though, is this: a big, out-of-state company is invading their community for a little fun and profit. And the only place at risk is Alamo Township.
"I believe our community is a lot of farmland," Township Clerk Laura Endres tells the gathered residents. "A lot of crops are drying out. I totally disagree with this. I think it's irresponsible for these people to bring it into our community. It's a risk. I don't care how slight it is. I do not like it."
"It might not be your field, your house, your trees that goes poof," she continues. "But it's a risk that our community is going to go through, and I don't agree with it in the least."
Humiston, meanwhile, defends the festival, saying he thinks Lantern Fest is good for the community and brings money and tourists that Alamo Township wouldn’t normally see. But more and more Alamo residents rise to have their voices heard. The vast majority agree: they don’t want it here.
"How often have you come out here to check the wind?" Alamo Trustee Gail VanderWeele asks Humiston.
He replies: "I've talked with your fire chief, the owner of the track as well. I haven't come out here with a wind sock, if that's what you're asking. But I could! If you want, the next few weeks." VanderWeele doesn't accept that.
"I don't want you to. I don't want you here!" she says. Alamo residents applaud.
After all that bickering, though, nothing really changes. Protestors, residents, officials all get their turn. Eventually, the talk just kind of fizzles out to an awkward goodbye.
"Okay, well, good luck!" says Hyet. "That's all I can say."
"To who?" VanderWeele asks.
"To them! To us!" Hyet replies. "Because at this point in time we are all vested."
An Uncertain Future
And that is where things still stand. Despite the opposition, Lantern Fest is still set to run on September 26th. Humiston says he could even see it coming back to Michigan next year.
"Because I think we can do them in a safe, environmentally friendly way," he says.
Back to Alamo, though? That’s a whole different story. Township Supervisor Tony Hyet says he’s already prepping a new ordinance. It wouldn’t necessarily ban sky lanterns, but it’d make events like Lantern Fest a lot tougher to put on.
Really, though, Hyet just wants this whole ordeal to be over.
“And that we can put this behind us, and we can get an ordinance in place to give us a choice for what we want to do in the future," he says. "And at that point in time, I’m hoping to keep walking away from it.”
So for those who missed out on tickets to Lantern Fest in Alamo Township this year, it might be smart to look for flights to Utah or Colorado if you want to see it in the future.
