The Candle of Hope ceremony is a very special part of every Relay For Life event around the world. It is held at dusk and is a time for us all to come together to remember those we have lost to cancer, honour those who have been affected by cancer and to share our collective HOPE that one day we will see a world without cancer.
In the lead up to Relay For Life we sell the Luminaria candle bags that you can see here in the photos.
The bags are carefully placed along the inside of the Relay track and we light the candles before the Candle of Hope Ceremony begins. The whole Relay community works together through the night to ensure that the candles remain lit, and their symbolic light lights the way as we continue our Relay through the darkness of the night. 
Some are adorned with the most artistic, ornate decoration, others are more simple but every single one is treasured because those bags represent our loved ones, our hopes, our memories and our prayers.
As we walk through the night at Relay the messages on the bags inspire us to keep going. When energy and enthusiasm is waning and the body is aching, I think it is completely normal to ask yourself ‘What the hell am I doing here walking this track at 3.30am….shouldn’t I be in bed??’ We only have to look at a message on a luminaria and we are quickly reminded why we are doing what we are doing.
Year on year we have seen the numbers of bags at our Relay increase, and we want this to be the year that we have more luminaria lighting our way than ever before.
Luminaria can be purchased from committee or team members and can be purchased in advance or on the day.