RiSE Festival

 

October 18, 2014, Mojave Desert, Nevada – This day marks my 8th year in the United States. It’s very fitting that I did something unforgettable that day–ponder about what happened during the past 8 years: keeping a strong bond with my family, spending over 5 1/2 years with my boyfriend, having friends who are very dear to me and fulfilling my quarter-life goals. I’ve always wanted to release sky lanterns into the night sky but couldn’t find a convenient and secure way to do it. I learned of the RiSE Festival from Facebook and saw it as my chance to cross this off my bucket list. I went to the festival with my boyfriend and we had a very magical experience.

We released the first lantern (my boyfriend’s) around 8:30 p.m. in unison with about 13,000 other people. We were allowed to release more lanterns afterwards. This video shows three out of five lanterns we released including the fireworks display around 9:30 p.m. The second lantern was mine and the fifth (third on the video) we released was ours.

The moment we released that first sky lantern, tears fell down my face and I was simply awestruck by the beautiful sight around me. I may not have captured this moment well on camera but nothing can beat the experience we had of actually being there to do it and see it. I hope I get to do this again next year!