Since 2021, Processional Arts and a growing community of lantern-makers have come together to illuminate the Hudson Highlands landscape in procession, inviting participants to see their natural surroundings in a different light. This year, as the Hudson Valley Shakespeare site undergoes an intensive ecological transformation, we are excited to discover hidden wonders further afield, leading the annual procession into the newly-christened Humble Bee Hollow, a neighboring woodland trail and meadow managed by the Hudson Highland Land Trust.

Over the years, we have asked our lantern bearers to look out for flora and fauna, look upward toward the stars, and look deep into the watery abyss. Perhaps the time has come, as we tread new ground in the Humble Bee Hollow, to simply look at what is close at hand – the living world that lies hidden just underfoot or within our grasp. The bees, beetles, ants, mayflies, and other bugs we walk past or over every day, comprise 80% of our world’s animal species and half of the planet’s terrestrial biomass. We overlook the insects at our peril. They break down dead matter and replenish the nutrients in our soil; they are a primary food-source for countless animal species and their predators; they pollinate most wild and cultivated plants. Renowned entomologist EO Wilson called them “the little things that run the world” Without them, he warned, humans and other animals might last a few months, and all life on earth would soon revert to algae and bacteria.

This year, with more than one third of insect species worldwide facing sudden, catastrophic decline, we devote our full attention to the little things. During a month of collaborative weekend workshops, starting March 22 at Hudson Valley Shakespeare’s home at the Garrison, participants can help create an illuminated microcosmos. Working from recent habitat surveys of the Hudson Highlands Land Trust, we will create giant luminous versions of our Hudson Valley bugs, too big and too bright to be ignored. On April 26, this luminous gathering of bees and ants, mayflies and damselflies, beetles and butterflies, and other keystone creatures will take to the Hollow, along with hundreds of smaller firefly lanterns and glowing poetic tributes to the humble insects to whom we owe our very existence.

RSVP to a Workshop

Workshop Dates:

Saturday, March 22
Sunday, March 23
Saturday, March 29
Sunday, March 30
Saturday, April 5
Sunday, April 6
Saturday, April 12
Sunday, April 13