Morningside Lights Procession to Once Again Make its Way Through the Neighborhood

By Gus Saltonstall

Morningside Lights will return for its 15th year later this month as a procession of handmade lanterns will float through Morningside Park to Columbia University’s campus.

The procession will take place on Saturday, September 19 at 8 p.m., and take off from inside Morningside Park at 116th Street and Morningside Avenue. The group will then walk the one-mile distance to Columbia University’s campus gates at West 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, but will travel down to West 110th Street and Amsterdam Avenue to do so.

Here is a map of the route.

Those who wish to carry a lantern are asked to arrive at 7 p.m. at 120th Street and Morningside Avenue. Lanterns will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at that time.

This year’s event will feature lanterns inspired by the theme “A Common Thread,” which is an exploration of the visual patterns and motifs in textiles, domestic adornments, architecture, and engineered spaces.

Free lantern-building workshops hosted at the Miller Theatre within Columbia’s 116th Street campus will take place daily from September 12 through 18. The workshops are geared toward adults and teenagers, but children over the age of 10 can attend if they are with an adult.

The workshops are free to attend.

Registration for these workshops opens on Wednesday, September 2nd, at 11 a.m.. You can sign up — HERE.

Morningside Lights was founded in 2012 as a way to connect Columbia’s campus to the neighborhood, and to, quite literally, shine a light on Morningside Park.

For the first time, there will also be an exhibition of photos from every year of Morningside Lights called “Carried by Light: Celebrating 15 Years of Morningside Lights” on display at the Miller Theatre at 2960 Broadway. It is curated by Lauren Bailey Cognetti and will run from September 12, 2026, through May 2027.

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