October 13th, 2009
The Village Halloween Parade in New York City
A few years ago I was visiting my friend Robert in Brooklyn. He wanted to pretend to be on vacation too, so we booked a few rooms, at different locations, and as Robert’s tastes are very refined we stayed only the best hotels New York City has to offer. I just so happened to have booked my trip over the week in which Halloween happened, and I am forever grateful of that fact. I had been to other Halloween celebrations in other cities. And until I went to New York for the holiday, the Red Moon Puppet Theater in Chicago had been my number one memory of the occasion.
But then I went to the Village Halloween Parade, and I was forever changed. Puppets are not for everyone. Some think that they are silly, some think that they are spooky. I think that they are both and that is why I dig them so much. I had tried to make a life sized puppet upon returning from the Chicago trip, they are hard to design and so I also respect the artistry that goes into creating this little bit of magic.
This year the Village Halloween Parade will celebrate its 35th year. In 1973, a local puppeteer and mask maker started a small parade in order to entertain the people in his neighborhood in the Village. He simply went from door to door. He did this for two years in a row, and quickly got the attention of the Theater for New York City. They took over and turned this small neighborhood event into the grand scale event that it has become today.
This parade in the village is now known as the largest Halloween festival in the entire world. Festivals International bestowed the honor of just that, the “Best of the World” Halloween celebrations. I will be on my again this year, and I am looking forward to the pageantry, and the artistry that just seems to be born and to live on the streets of that incredible town. This year I am even bringing that puppet I started years ago, as inspiration finally resulted in the completion of my silly and spooky “masterpiece”.
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