A Night of Fantasy
From an outsider’s perspective, the 40th annual Village Halloween Parade that starts on 6th Avenue from Spring Street to 16th Street seems like a chaotic gathering of vampires, cats, pirates, and ghosts with creepy floats overlooking the hundreds of people craning their necks to get a glimpse of the madness.
The parade began at seven in the evening and lasted until 10:30 as the number of people huddled together along the streets, waiting for the enormous floats to make their special appearances, gradually increased. You can sense individuality around you as you see people taking the roles of their costumes and entering a dream world for the night. The parade included hundreds of puppets, artists, dancers, and 53 bands. Everyone was pointing fingers at the cage-like float with a group of men covered in paint wearing barely any clothes. It’s the way they carried themselves with their swift motions and growls that attracted the crowd.
Even though there was a light drizzle, the warmer than usual weather on Halloween night encouraged people to attend the over three-hour parade that was abruptly interrupted last year because of Hurricane Sandy. The theme of the parade, “Revival” touched the hearts of many New Yorkers that experienced trauma from last year’s Hurricane Sandy, which ruined Halloween and the weeks to come. People expressed their excitement for the theme by bringing back their old costumes. One striking individual that had on the most realistic face paint of a bloody zombie wore the same costume from last year in memory of Sandy ruining the parade. Sandy took a toll on his home in Rockaway, so he was ecstatic to just be able to be apart of this year’s Halloween parade.
Most people are unaware of the closure that Halloween parades provide. This year’s parade was special because it served a greater purpose than just celebrating Halloween; it honored all the people who helped fix the damage done by Sandy. The parade was especially directed for the New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center Transplant Team and Jeff Bratcher who donated a kidney to the Parade Director’s son. The parade in 2001 was the first major jovial event after the World Trade Center attacks. Also, the Halloween parades after Hurricane Katrina and the Haitian earthquake in 2005 and 2010 helped remind people of happiness and hope.
This Halloween parade brought back some old memories with the return of the Giant Spider created by Basil Twist and the Clock Tower. The eight-legged white spider slowly glides down the Clock Tower to spook anyone lingering around. The Clock Tower is beautifully lit all around to brighten up the night. Collections of other old puppets were reintroduced to the Halloween festivities. Puppets became a form of entertainment in 1973 when Ralph Lee started a puppet parade in New York. His tradition was eventually incorporated in the Halloween parade. The purpose of bringing back decorations from the past was to celebrate the parade’s 40th birthday by incorporating history from all Halloween parades since the past 40 years. A decoration from each of the 40 years reappeared to stir up some old memories from annual attendants.
Off course without the appealing decorations, the Village Halloween Parade wouldn’t be as famous as it is today, but the work and dedication that went behind organizing the parade is truly something to brag about. Before even preparing for this year’s parade, organizers raised more than $50,000 through a Kickstarter campaign to pay for the financial losses of cancelling last year’s parade due to Sandy. The parade was almost going to be cancelled for a second time until Kickstarter met their fundraising goal a littler over a week before Halloween. There was definitely more pressure put on this year’s organizers of the parade because people were not only celebrating Halloween, but also overcoming the excruciating damage caused by Sandy.
Undoubtedly, in order to make sure such a large parade flows smoothly, more than a few organizations were needed. Everyday people participated by animating a puppet or helping with production, crowd control, and vehicle control by being a parade Marshall. People also helped build the Giant Puppets that lead the procession.
The Giant Puppets and other performances are key features of the Halloween parade as they lead crowds of people down the packed streets of New York City. Over 50,000 participants work throughout the summer and fall in New York City, Upstate New York, New Jersey, Boston Cleveland, and the North East to help engineer the vast puppets. The puppets not only have to be creative and attention grabbing, but also sturdy enough to be able to maneuver down the streets. Building and operating the puppets is done by hundreds of volunteers registered in Puppet Building workshops from local communities and New York City. The workshops were held every weekend in October to prepare for the parade.
Without hard work and dedication, the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade wouldn’t have been named “The Greatest Event on Earth” by Festivals International and listed as one of the “100 Things to do Before You Die.” With no surprise, this year’s parade was the nation’s largest public Halloween celebration with more than 2 million attendees. The secret of the parade is to make people happy with no strings attached; it’s one of the only free events offered in New York City where people don’t have to worry about a price ticket to attend. A combination of it reaching its 40th birthday, raising enough money to thrive enough after the effects of Hurricane Sandy, and being simply thrilling with a variety of decorations and performers, the parade is an unforgettable event.
Works Cited
“2013 NYC Village Halloween Parade in Photos (part 2) — Marshmallow Man, Heisenberg, Body Paint, Zombies & More.” 2013 NYC Village Halloween Parade in Photos (part 2) – Marshmallow Man, Heisenberg, Body Paint, Zombies & More. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013 <http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2013/11/2013_nyc_villag.html>.
“NYC Halloween Parade 2013: Route Map, Viewing Spots And Live Stream Info For New York’s Village Parade.” International Business Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013 <http://www.ibtimes.com/nyc-halloween-parade-2013-route-map-viewing-spots-live stream-info-new-yorks-village-parade-1447484>.
Oh, Inae. “The Very Best From The 2013 Halloween Parade In NYC (PHOTOS).” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 01 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/01/halloween-parade-2013_n_4190061.html>.
“Village Halloween Parade.” — Jeanne Fleming, Artistic and Producing Director. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. <http://www.halloween-nyc.com/index.php>.
