Parade 
Sunday May 7, 2006
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There are two parts to our MayDay event, the parade, and the ceremony, followed by a festival in Powderhorn Park until dusk. Every year a theme is defined through public workshops and puppets are created accordingly. On MayDay, the parade explodes onto the street, blessing this artery of communication and commerce in a new way. We tell our story, section by section proceeding down the street like a walking Burmashave sign. We own the street for the day, playing instruments and strutting masks with fiery verve. We welcome back the spring birds and greet neighbors from near and far.

To develop the theme, the MayDay staff members take the ideas from the public meetings which are held at HOBT in February and March (everyone is welcome). They then research them, dissect them, argue them, and finally name a theme. Then we craft a simple Parade Story and draw it out on a storyboard as a series of images. (See "artist renderings" from last year.)The story is divided into specific parade sections, each designed musically and visually by the staff artists who serve as the directors for the puppet, mask, movement, and musical creations of their section.