Every year, as winter settles over the High Country, Mansfield comes alive with light.

The Mansfield Lantern Festival is a three-day celebration of the winter solstice, held annually on the third weekend of June at the foot of snow-capped Mt Buller. What started as a small community gathering has grown into one of north east Victoria’s most loved winter events, and the heart of it hasn’t changed a bit.

The weekend kicks off on Friday evening with a Welcome to Country and firelight ceremony, lantern-making workshops, and a special food and wine night under the fairy lights. Local restaurants set their winter solstice menus, and the town feels like it’s been lit from within.

Saturday night is what people come for. Hundreds of handmade lanterns, many crafted right here at the festival, move through the streets of Mansfield in the much-loved lantern parade. Open fires, live music, local food and drink, and the kind of collective warmth that’s hard to find anywhere else.

Sunday morning closes the weekend gently, with a sunrise yoga session among the lanterns followed by a leisurely solstice brunch.

Grab your tickets, make a lantern, book a bed and come and see what winter in the High Country is really about.