A FIFTEEN feet-high lantern of friendly alien ET helped ensure this year's Ulverston Lantern Festival was out of this world.

The town enjoyed its busiest night of the year when more than 5,000 people flocked to the town centre to see the biggest lantern parade for more than a decade.

'Outer space' was this year's theme and more than 600 paper and willow lanterns created a river of light, with many creations drawing their inspiration from films, TV and comic books.

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The giant ET - the Extra-Terrestrial created by 2nd Ulverston Scouts led the main procession, while other lanterns included Doctor Who's time-travelling TARDIS, Jedi Master Yoda from Star Wars, a moon buggy complete with astronaut and aliens, and a wonderfully detailed USS Enterprise supported by a crew in full Star Trek uniforms.

Festival committee chair Chris Nelson said the combined procession was so long that, at one point, the lead lanterns almost caught up with the tail end while circling the town centre.

Instead of a march up to Ford Park for the big finale, a street party took place in Ulverston with entertainment from electronic musicians Tirikilatops on a stage set up in Buxton Place car park; the Blast Furness band playing in Market Street; and acrobatic displays and fire-dancing by Matrix Circus on the roundabout in County Square.

The final firework display could be seen lighting up the night sky beyond the town, said Chris.

"The festival is the result of a huge amount of hard work by the volunteer organisers and the lantern-makers, and it was tremendous to see how delighted the crowds were with the results," he told the Gazette.

“The lantern-makers really rose to the challenge of bringing ‘Outer Space’ to life with withies, paper and candles, and our stewards and glittering ‘space operatives’ did a terrific job, supported by the police and St John Ambulance, ensuring everyone had a safe and enjoyable evening.

“Holding the festival in the town centre was an experiment following the safety issues around reduced access to Ford Park last year, and it was wonderful to see so many people enjoying the event. But we would love to return to Ford Park in 2018 and we will be engaging with the trustees to explore the options to improve safe access for big-crowd events."