A Lantern Parade Celebrating 100 Years of Winnie the Pooh
This year's Lantern Parade saw Cheadle town centre lit up with friendship and fun, in keeping with the spirit of Winnie the Pooh himself. The Lantern Parade serves as a fitting finale for the Art Festival, which takes place every October.
Winnie-the-Pooh celebrated his 100th anniversary on October 14, 1926, marking a full century since A.A. Milne’s classic children's book was first published. The parade was delivered by OUTSIDE in partnership with B-Arts and Wellspring Methodist Church, bringing arts and creativity into the heart of the local community. Music for the parade was provided by an all-female brass ensemble - Brazen Brass Band.
Free community lantern-making workshops leading up to the event enabled even the most uncreative of us to make something lovely and be part of something bigger.
On Saturday, 24 October 2026, people of all ages gathered at Wellspring Methodist Church where lanterns were collected for the parade around town. Leading the way was a giant Winnie the Pooh lantern created by B-Arts, who organise quite a few lantern parades around Staffordshire.
You might be wondering why the bear appears to have no middle - the design is based on the time when Winnie the Pooh got stuck in the entrance to Rabbit's House because he'd eaten too much honey. It's a lovely story and well worth a read. Pooh has a dilemma: he loves honey, but he needs to get out of the hole - literally!
A dilemma faced the people of Cheadle on the 24th too; the weather was very bad with high winds and rain, but not only did it go ahead, a fantastic number of people turned out to fill the streets with glowing lanterns, music, and the community spirit Cheadle excels at.
Celebrating a Century of Winnie the Pooh with a Lantern Parade
