Happy May Day 2008

This year the kids and I had the chance to experience the amazing May Day Parade that In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre puts on every year. They work on this parade literally all year round. And it shows! This year's theme was A New Bridge...

A New Bridge Infrastructure for the Future Beings On August 1, 2007, we witnessed the fall of the 35W bridge. During the profound Ecumenical Memorial Service for the 13 citizens who perished in the river, Hamdy El-Sawaf of the Islamic Jurisprudence Council of Minnesota offered these words: “If a bridge made of iron, steel and concrete can fall down, then a human bridge of faith, trust, confidence and hope must be established.” These words challenge us to receive the tragedy of the fallen bridge as an opportunity to consider the infrastructure we are building for the present and future beings. Are we building toward depletion and collapse as consumers and conquerors, or are we building a path to sustainable, reciprocal harmony with the rest of the earth? Let us turn together with trust, faith, joy and ingenuity toward the work of building a bridge for safe passage through our transition to a glorious, sustainable, healthy life for all the future beings. Happy Mayday! Enjoy! In The Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre Creator and Producer of the MayDay Parade, Ceremony, and Festival

One of my favorite parts of going to the parade, though, is the people watching. This event brings out people from ALL walks of life and it is so fun to watch and experience them all. While we waited for the parade to arrive we saw a lady juggling beside us and a man across the street with a huge parrot on his shoulder. Not to mention the variety of hairstyles... and the varied tastes in clothing! It was amazing.

Then there's the parade itself. So full of color and happiness. People on stilts, people riding unusual bikes... masks and amazing costumes... music of all genres. People just having fun and spreading joy. Here are a few photos...

Note: You can see bigger, more detailed, photos in my Flickr Photostream.

Now you may wonder how in the world this craziness could be educational... but it actually was. There was the multi-cultural experience... including Native American dance and costumes. The wide variety of music and dance. There was the display showing butterfly cocoons. There was a group of people marching holding endangered animals made from paper mache. There were anti-war groups, which prompted some discussion. One group handed out flowers along the way... we got Baby's Breath, which we looked up and identified when we got home. It is now being pressed so that we can enjoy it for a long time to come. So we did learn. I am discovering that everything in life can be a learning experience! There was a lot to soak in here... I'm sure discussions will spark for a long time to come.

After the parade we walked the few blocks to a nearby park. This is where the parade ended and they had a May Day Festival going on. The Festival may have been fun... if you could actually make your way through the sea of people to see anything. We were disappointed in the crowd, which made it impossible to have fun. We did get to see the canoes they had decorated for May Day... I believe they were doing canoe rides on the little lake there in the park. We probably made it a few feet before we decided to leave. We did stand in line long enough to grab a hot dog and a pop. We enjoyed watching a couple of guys do tricks with a frisbee while we ate. Then we headed out to play at our usual neighborhood park. All in all a fun day!