LANTERNS in the shape of some of Oxford’s most famous landmarks will light up the skies when the city switches on its Christmas lights.

Master lantern makers have been teaching artists and teachers to use withy – a strong flexible willow stem – and bamboo to make the lanterns for the city’s Christmas Light Night celebrations on Friday, November 27.

The plan is for the newly-skilled artists and teachers to go into schools in the city – including Cheney and Oxford schools – to pass on the skills to children.

The lanterns, which represent places including the Bodleian Library, the Sheldonian Theatre and Christ Church, will be carried through the city centre, accompanied by a procession of smaller lanterns made by children.

Organiser Tara Stewart, from Oxford’s community arts agency Fusion, attended a creative workshop held at Ovada – Oxfordshire Visual Arts Development Agency – in Gloucester Green on Saturday.

She said: “We’re hoping to create an amazing spectacle for the Christmas lights parade and there will also be a legacy for all the new skills that have been learned for future projects.

“It should be lovely. After the parade the lanterns will sit outside the buildings they represent.”