Photograph by LoKnowsDrones LLC
A puppet in a white suit, with a smiley face for a head, towers over every Beltline Lantern Parade. His name is Mr. Happy, and he’s the creation of Cam Ayer, who has marched every year since 2010 as a member of the Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons. On May 3, Mr. Happy will join thousands of others at Adair Park and head up the Southwest Beltline trail for the 15th annual Lantern Parade, a free community event that has become an iconic Atlanta tradition.
The Krewe’s leader, Chantelle Rytter, dreamed up the Beltline’s signature event back when the city-transforming pedestrian throughway was just a dirt path. “We wanted to inhabit the space and imagine what it could be,” says Rytter.
While the parades are now an Atlanta fixture, they were initially inspired by a Southeastern sister city. When Rytter moved back to Atlanta in 2001 after a spell in New Orleans, she missed the mischief and magic of Mardi Gras. Rytter and her friends formed their krewe (the term originates from the social organizations that stage Carnival parades around Louisiana) and walked in the Little Five Points Halloween Parade dressed as gnomes—but she felt something was missing. “New Orleans krewes see parades as a gift to their city, but I was running around as krewe captain and not giving a gift,” Rytter recalls.
When the Beltline called for proposals for the first Art on the Beltline, Rytter began imagining something bigger. In 2010, 500 people brought homemade lanterns for an informal stroll up the Beltline Eastside Trail. The Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons took their marching orders and led the pack. Ayer, who met Rytter throwing darts at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club in 1993, made Mr. Happy. His wife, Joy, went as Mrs. Happy.
Together, the Ayers traipsed over old railroad bridges at that first parade, and they haven’t missed one since. “When you put on a costume, you are anonymous and can go out and play in a big crowd,” Ayer says. “It’s so fun to be able to interact with folks and see people smile. No one is ever mad at a parade.”
The lantern parade was the perfect fit for the Beltline, which uses its arts programs to create community and support local artists. But Atlantans were the ones who made it the Beltline’s biggest party. “A lot of other cities have attempted light-based creative placemaking parades and festivals,” says Amina Cooper, the Beltline’s director of arts and culture. “But ours is probably one of the longest-running events that incorporates community, arts, and performance. All of Atlanta comes out in harmony to do our own little weird thing.”
The parade has become so successful that it’s been Rytter’s full-time job since 2011. She’s expanded to seven annual events around the region, adding parades in Sandy Springs and Hilton Head Island. In 2024, these community parties drew an estimated 45,000 people in total, and the Beltline Lantern Parade made national news. The flagship parade has grown so popular that it’s even had to move trails. In 2022, after pedestrian traffic on the Eastside Trail had begun to reach Downtown Connector–level congestion and parade spectators were outnumbering lanterns, Rytter relocated the event to the Beltline’s Southwest Trail, citing safety concerns.
The move proved good for everyone: The Beltline could highlight its blossoming Westside expansion, while a shortened route ensured people had energy for postparade revelry at the Lee + White complex, where the parade ends. Rytter’s warehouse, which is home to her puppet collection and where she hosts lantern-making workshops, is just down the street.
These days, Rytter’s mischief- and magic-making is in high demand; she now consults for towns and cities around the country to help them launch their own lantern parades. But the heart of what she loves about them hasn’t changed since the first lantern parade was just a few hundred people on a dirt path behind the dumpsters.
“Having a burst of collective joy on the calendar that everyone is invited to is so valuable,” she says. “Especially these days, bringing people together is a feat, but we have thousands of people coming joyfully together. I tear up every time.”
Photograph by Andrew Hetherington
Where the Wild Lanterns Are
After launching Atlanta’s first lantern parade on an unpaved Beltline Eastside Trail in 2010, Chantelle Rytter now hosts six annual parades around town, plus a beach event on Hilton Head Island.
When they’re not illuminating the night sky, the creatures of Rytter’s lantern parades live at her warehouse in the Lee + White complex in Southwest Atlanta. The giant puppet frames are made out of bamboo, willow and reed, and covered in fabric, with added bits and bobs for flair. To get their signature glow, battery-powered lights are tucked inside.
A few visible here: an owl from the Parliament of Owls Parade; a Pink Lady Daisy from the Butterfly Lantern Parade; and “Mama Kissy,” a water puppet who swims in the Chattahoochee River during the “Take it to the River! Sandy Springs Lantern Parade.”
This article appears in our May 2025 issue.
