The annual Lantern Ceremony on the eve of the 241st Patriot’s Day was held at Old North Church on April 17, 2016. The standing-room only event recalls the famous 1775 evening in Boston’s North End when two lanterns were hung from the steeple of the Old North Church, signaling the departure of British regulars “by sea” and launching what would become the American Revolutionary War. Every year since 1875, Old North has commemorated the hanging of the lanterns.
Excerpts from the 2016 Lantern Ceremony are presented in the above video. A video timeline and summary is listed below.
(00:00 in video) Entrance Processional
- USS Constitution Color Guard
- Watertown Provincial Guard
- National Lancers
- Lexington Minutemen
- Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company
(02:40) Welcome and Invocation
- The Reverend Stephen T. Ayres, Executive Director of the Old North Foundation
(08:35) Excerpts from Paul Revere’s letter to Jeremy Belknap
- Read by Michael Caldwell, Northeast Regional Director, National Park Service
(12:00) March from Scipio – Anthem by G.F. Handel
- 1st Michigan Colonial Fife & Drum Corps
(13:40) Paul Revere’s Ride – Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Read by Giselle Sterling, Commissioner of Veterans’ Services for the City of Boston
(19:40) This is My Song – Hymn by Jean Sibelius
- Old North Chamber Choir
View Gov. Charlie Baker’s keynote address, the Lighting of the Lanterns and all related posts at this Lantern Ceremony page.
