Playing Music at the Water Lantern Festival: A Night of Songs, Reflection, and Light

It’s been a minute, so if you’re new here — we’re Speaking of Roses: Sherell and Megan, wives turned bandmates.

We met back in 2019 at a local singer/songwriter showcase. Just two artists playing original songs, not knowing we were about to start something much bigger — a marriage, a friendship, a band.

Six years later (four years married 🥲), we’re still playing music together — but these days, it hits a little deeper. We’re finding ourselves in spaces where the songs aren’t just performances — they’re part of something bigger.

Recently, we were invited to play a special three-night set at the San Jose Water Lantern Festival, and it was one of those experiences we’re still holding close.

Thousands of people came out to the lake each night — families, couples, friends, solo wanderers — to write messages on floating lanterns and release them into the water after sunset. Messages of reflection, love, grief, hope, letting go. Some people got on stage to share their stories. The whole thing was emotional in that quiet, grounded way.

We were asked to play a 20-minute set each night — something a little intimate and special — and we’re still a little floored we got to be part of it.

Every night, our friends came out to support us, and we’d catch glimpses of familiar faces in the crowd of thousands. It made the whole thing feel like home. On the final night, we hung out with Megan’s mom (Sherell’s mother-in-law) after our performance. We colored on lanterns, played a game of mini Scrabble on our camping chairs, and then watched our lanterns float out onto the lake with everyone else’s.

We also made a couple new friends: the sound engineer Stratt and his guest Natalie, who casually accepted the challenge to take a few snapshots with our DSLR. Turns out Natalie was a complete pro and took some of our favorite shots of the whole weekend. Amazing.

Three nights of playing under the stars, surrounded by glowing lanterns, stories, and a whole lot of heart — we’re walking away from it feeling excited for the next adventure that comes around the corner.

Thanks to everyone who showed up, who listened, who reflected, who released. We felt it!

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Speaking of Roses (Sherell & Megan)

📸 Huge thanks to Natalie Olsen for capturing the magic.