I would be interested in a parade of nude beauty pageant entrants.
There are a couple of actual parade groups I’d like to see. Synchronized Briefcase Drill Teams – I think a similar group has performed on occasion in DC, but I can’t find reference to them. Also the Lawn Rangers, a synchronized lawn mower drill team.
But in general, I despise parades with every fiber of my being. My perennial hate list is always topped by Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Parades, …
I only watch the T-Day parade to see what floats they have. I’ve really kinda missed it for the last few years, but honestly I just wonder if they still use the Bullwinkle/ Underdog balloons. After all, do kids nowadays even know who they are?
Depends on their content. If it’s just a bunch of bands and the odd emergency vehicle, I can do with out it. A good variety of bands, floats, military vehicles, balloons, and I’ll be there.
But even being a Philadelphian, I have little use for the Mummers. Maybe a half hour or so of the Comics or Fancies, but it goes on wayyyyy too long.
These small-town parades of politicians, used-car dealers, Rotary club floats, etc. leave me feeling rather meh. But well-done, high-production-value parades like Mardi Gras krewes or Walt Disney World parades = awesome (if you’re there; on TV = meh).
They’re OK, I guess. The best and worst situation we had was when we lived right on a parade thoroughfare, second floor. Best was that we could literally lie in bed and watch the parade naked. Worst was we’d get woken up by it and literally could not drive anywhere while it was going on.
Some are fun i guess.
As a woman you couldn’t catch me anywhere near the Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans. A bunch of idiotic drunks roaming around looking for trouble. Just what I need.
Since living in Louisiana any parade that doesn’t involve people throwing stuff at me is b-o-r-i-n-g.
And Anaamika, if you aren’t in the Quarter then Mardi Gras suddenly turns into a family sort of thing. Seriously, where I lived just across the river, several major parades went by on the main street a block from the house. Tons of families, kids, nothing like what you’re thinking. Honest.
I know, I know, but I swear, it’s true. I have a couple of large bags of beads and nary a flash did I have to do to get them. And parades without them are boring as hell now.
I used to love the Macy’s parade on Thanksgiving but have pretty much given up on it because of the production numbers. Are they even on the parade route, or are they on a side street while the parade continutes off camera?
I love parades. Love 'em. I love the big noises and the flashy brass and the prom queens riding in borrowed convertibles. I love the Shriners in their tiny cars and the crappy floats put together by local businesses. I love seeing a bunch of folks I live near but would never come into contact with, all lining the streets to enjoy the day.
I actually live right on the route of the two large community parades my town throws every year. One’s at night in winter and one’s at 10 am in the spring. My “yard” is just a small grassy area with a 6 foot rock wall drop to the sidewalk, so it is literally the ideal place to watch parades. I throw fat parties during them. There is nothing to beat drinking beer and catching beads and cheering on the grade school flag bearers from one’s own yard with a couple dozen friends.