Candlelight vigil

A candlelight vigil is an outdoor assembly of people carrying candles, held after sunset in order to show support for a specific cause. Such events are typically held either to protest the suffering of some marginalized group of people, or in memory of a life or lives lost to some disease, disaster, massacre or other tragedy. In the latter case, the event is often called a candlelight memorial. A large candlelight vigil will usually have invited speakers with a public address system and may be covered by local or national media. Speakers give their speech at the beginning of the vigil to explain why they are holding a vigil and what it represents. Vigils may also have a religious or spiritual purpose. On Christmas Eve many churches hold a candlelight vigil.

Candlelight vigils are seen as a nonviolent way to raise awareness of a cause and to motivate change, as well as uniting and supporting those attending the vigil.

Gallery

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  2010 National Police Week 22nd annual candlelight vigil at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial at Judiciary Square, Washington DC.
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  Residents and members of the media at a vigil in Kauhajoki, Finland, one day after the September 23, 2008 shooting incident
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  Pro-life candlelight vigil outside a Planned Parenthood location in Boston with rosary and Stations of the Cross
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  Every year since 1990, hundreds of thousands of people attend candlelight vigils on June 4 in Victoria Park, Hong Kong commemorating the victims of Tiananmen Square massacre
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  A candlelight vigil in Lourdes, France.

See also

• Grave candle

External links

• American Medical Students Association, Planning Candle Light Vigils
• "Example Candle Light Vigil for the Little Ambassador"