Video courtesy North Hawaii Hospice, edited by Big Island Video News

KOHALA COAST – Thunderstorms drove everyone indoors at the Fairmont Orchid Hawaii for a short time on Sunday (Aug. 23), but participants in the fifth annual North Hawaii Hospice Lantern Floating Ceremony made it back outside to Coconut Grove before sunset in time for the scheduled release into Pauoa Bay.

“This is truly a unique and remarkable event,” shared Katherine Werner, Executive Director of North Hawaii Hospice in a media release issued before the event. “We were overwhelmed at the over 1,000 participants who were able to enjoy last year’s event and are looking forward to partnering once again with the Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii to honor and remember those who have passed.”

According to North Hawaii Hospice:

Lantern floating is an Asian spiritual tradition that symbolizes the wish for all beings to live in peaceful coexistence. As the lanterns are released onto the ocean, they take with them our healing prayers to honor and remember those who have passed. Lanterns are collected at the end of the release, the lantern bases are saved, and the lantern papers are collected, dried, and burned in a respectful manner.

North Hawaii Hospice is a community based non-profit hospice organization that helps seriously ill patients and their loved ones maintain quality of life even at the end of life.

MUSIC CREDIT: Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license