Giant Glowing Lotus Flowers on the Paddleboat Quarry, and How to Make an October Evening of It on the Naperville Riverwalk

The best thing to do on the Naperville Riverwalk this month will be gone after October 24. LOTUS is six LED-lit lotus flowers, each roughly 13 feet wide by 11 feet high, floating on docks in the Paddleboat Quarry at 441 Aurora Ave. They are lit from dusk until 10 p.m. This is the first time the piece has been shown in the United States. It is free and open every day through October 24.

The quarry's own season had already ended when the flowers arrived. The Park District closed paddleboat rentals for the year on September 21, and Centennial Beach closed on September 7. So for four weeks, the water that sits dark every October is the brightest spot downtown. How it got that way says something about Naperville's evenings this year. The installation that lights the Riverwalk this fall was a backup plan. A small arts nonprofit carried it out with volunteers, and the city's food and beverage tax paid for it. That happened in the same year the city's largest holiday parade was dropped as too costly for what it returned.

A Backup Plan That Ended Up Lasting Longer

LOTUS was never the original plan. ArtForum, the Naperville Partnership for Public Arts, had been working with Wireframe, a Canadian public art agency, to bring an installation called Light Anemones to Naperville this fall. That plan fell apart in the spring after the artist, Malte Kebbel, said he hadn't known about the agreement. Wireframe then suggested that ArtForum contact MODULE, the French studio behind LOTUS. The Naperville Park Board approved the installation at its August 13 meeting.

ArtForum treasurer Erin Franczyk told NCTV17 how the switch turned out:

"Things happen, and then the universe delivers other opportunities. We are thrilled that, working collaboratively with the Park District and Riverwalk, we are able to bring LOTUS to Naperville and that the installation is a much longer run and that Naperville will host the first U.S. installation of this amazing work."

The quarry setting matters to the piece itself. The designer, French artist Nicolas Paolozzi, said the flowers would be "arranged on water, which will act as a natural mirror and heighten the installation's visual impact." He calls the work "a tribute to nature, with humans reduced in scale before these giant flowers." Alban Guerry-Suire, MODULE's technical director for LOTUS, explained the scale more directly: "The idea is to put the human as like insect size, so that's why Nicolas designed it really big."

Six Docks, Two Trailers, and a Run for Bolts

The flowers floating on the quarry got there by hand. Franczyk described how the installation was assembled: "We trailered in six floating docks on two separate trailers. Each of the docks weighs about 450 to 500 pounds apiece." Next came unboxing the artwork and putting it together step by step, with Guerry-Suire guiding the volunteers. Members of MODULE and Wireframe worked alongside ArtForum volunteers, family, and friends. Franczyk also mentioned that her parents went out to buy bolts the day before the opening.

The partners named on the project are the Naperville Park District, the Naperville Riverwalk, Wireframe, and MODULE. The opening reception was held on Saturday night, September 26.

Every Dinner Check Downtown Helps Pay for It

Franczyk said the project started with Special Events and Community Arts, which gave ArtForum the grant money. SECA is funded by a special 1% tax on food and beverages in Naperville. A commission recommends how the money is divided among local organizations, and City Council approves the awards. ArtForum received a $65,000 SECA grant for LOTUS. In August, it said it was trying to raise another $10,000. No public update on that fundraising goal has appeared since.

Compare that with another line in the same budget. This year's SECA awards also set aside $22,300 for the Rotary Club of Naperville's Holiday Parade of Lights. In February, the club canceled the 2026 parade after more than two decades. A city spokesperson cited the "high cost of producing the event relative to its return." The parade's money goes back into the SECA fund unless it is given to another event. Since then, no City Council vote reassigning that money has been reported.

In 2026, the same tax-funded pool paid for a one-time, four-week art installation, while a 20-plus-year parade decided the numbers no longer worked. LOTUS wasn't the only new small-format event this year. In July, the Downtown Naperville Alliance co-hosted the first Park After Dark with Arranmore Events and Freightwood Creative Production at the Naperville Community Concert Center in Central Park. The weekend mixed evening concerts with children's cardboard-making activities. Poor air quality canceled Friday's opening night, and the Saturday and Sunday programs went ahead.

Building the Evening Around the Quarry

LOTUS is lit from dusk to 10 p.m., so the evening runs between dinner downtown and a walk south along the river. The Park District's page for Paddleboat Quarry points to Eagle Street as a place to watch activity on the water. No official viewing area or parking instructions have been published for the installation.

Here is what is open, or about to open, within walking distance as of early October:

A churro sundae from Lola's or a scoop from Oberweis works as a walk-along dessert on the way to the quarry.

The second reason to walk south this month is still under construction. The North Central College Riverwalk Park at 430 S. Washington St. sits across the river from Fredenhagen Park. It fills a gap in the Riverwalk, linking the south extension, Washington Street, and the North Central College campus by way of the Moser Covered Bridge. In its September 23 update, the city said the layout and design were finished, brick pavers were next, the two plazas were taking shape, and the park "is still expected to open by the end of October." The project timeline still lists the opening as "October (specific date TBD)," depending on weather. Some construction may continue after the park opens. Crews generally work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and there may be occasional lane closures on Washington Street. The park cost an estimated $2.1 million, with $1.3 million from the State of Illinois. If the park opens on schedule, there will be a few nights when you can walk the finished path and then see the flowers before LOTUS comes down.

The calendar will make some nights busier than others:

• Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18: the rescheduled Soap Box Derby. The Naperville Half Marathon, 10K and 5K also run on Sunday, Oct. 18.
• Friday, Oct. 23, and Saturday, Oct. 24, 5 to 10 p.m.: Naper Settlement's Howlin' at the Moon, for ages 21 and up. Its hours line up with LOTUS's final two nights.
• Sunday, Oct. 25, 10 a.m. to noon: the Downtown Naperville Alliance's Halloween Hop, with candy stops, face painting, and free trolley rides. This comes the day after the flowers' last night.

What Comes After Oct. 24

When LOTUS leaves, the next lights downtown arrive on a different schedule from past years. The Downtown Naperville Alliance lists "Downtown Lights Up for the Holidays" for Monday, Nov. 2, at 5 p.m., with decorated storefronts and holiday displays. The listing does not describe it as a replacement for the parade. Naper Settlement's free Holiday Tree Lighting and Visits with Santa is set for Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 5 to 7 p.m. The Park District's Santa's Naperville Workshop runs Nov. 30 through Dec. 20. Reservations are required, and registration opens Oct. 20 at noon. Naperville Sunrise Rotary's NaperLights display covers Water Street, Jaycees Park and the Riverwalk. The club describes its season as "Thanksgiving through New Year," 4 to 10 p.m., but has not posted exact 2026 dates. The Downtown Naperville Alliance also received $4,000 in SECA funds for holiday music performers this year.

When the parade was canceled, Downtown Naperville Alliance Executive Director Katie Wood said the Alliance remains "hopeful and committed to preserving the warmth and holiday spirit downtown for children and families alike." No group has announced an event for the parade's old spot, Friday, Nov. 27. Until one does, the last confirmed night to see lights on the Paddleboat Quarry is Saturday, Oct. 24, and the flowers go dark at 10 p.m.

At AFNR Homes, we follow the small stories that shape daily life in the western suburbs, like a backup art installation that ended up as the Riverwalk's best fall evening. If you're thinking about a home within walking distance of downtown Naperville and want to know what that walk really looks like season by season, schedule a complimentary market consultation and we'll walk you through it.