2008 Woodie Awards
Halloween
Eugene Radin
Issue date: 11/10/04 Section: Perspectives
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A group of pirates, followed by gangsters from the 1930's, surrounded by
various comic book characters all in the span of 2 minutes and the TV isn't
even on this Sunday night. How is all of this possible? It's the one day a year
we get to dress up like characters and actually receive positive responses from
strangers, plus it's the Village Halloween Parade in New York City!
Every October 31st New York celebrates Halloween downtown by gathering en masse
to party in celebration of absolutely nothing other than an excuse to have fun
and show off a creative costume. The Village Halloween Parade is the nation's
largest and is recognized worldwide as THE night-time festival to attend. 31
years since its inception, with an expected viewer-ship of two million people,
parade is truly a sight to behold.
Scheduled to start on 6th avenue and Spring street at 7 pm, the festivities
were delayed for reasons unknown. An hour later, with snipers sitting on the
roof tops, music was heard and marchers could finally be seen. Skeleton and
bird puppets, amidst hundreds of costumed participants filled the avenue and
danced their way up to 21st street. Many great outfits could be seen, starting
with a seemingly endless supply of political costumes, most of which supported
Senator Kerry's election.
2004 being an election year, it wasn't surprising to see hoards of politically
inspired costumes. Talking with one particular participant, Nick from New York,
about the thought that went into his Arab costume, I found out that not
everyone spent weeks planning for the parade, and some simply went with
convenience the night before. When asked about his plans for next year's
parade, he confirmed his desire to return when he said: "I'm thinking about
dressing up as a Kerry supporter next year, so I'm going to stop showering
now." Deeper into the conversation it was revealed that his costume was well
received and only a "dumb, drunk guy" made any inappropriate comments regarding
various comic book characters all in the span of 2 minutes and the TV isn't
even on this Sunday night. How is all of this possible? It's the one day a year
we get to dress up like characters and actually receive positive responses from
strangers, plus it's the Village Halloween Parade in New York City!
Every October 31st New York celebrates Halloween downtown by gathering en masse
to party in celebration of absolutely nothing other than an excuse to have fun
and show off a creative costume. The Village Halloween Parade is the nation's
largest and is recognized worldwide as THE night-time festival to attend. 31
years since its inception, with an expected viewer-ship of two million people,
parade is truly a sight to behold.
Scheduled to start on 6th avenue and Spring street at 7 pm, the festivities
were delayed for reasons unknown. An hour later, with snipers sitting on the
roof tops, music was heard and marchers could finally be seen. Skeleton and
bird puppets, amidst hundreds of costumed participants filled the avenue and
danced their way up to 21st street. Many great outfits could be seen, starting
with a seemingly endless supply of political costumes, most of which supported
Senator Kerry's election.
2004 being an election year, it wasn't surprising to see hoards of politically
inspired costumes. Talking with one particular participant, Nick from New York,
about the thought that went into his Arab costume, I found out that not
everyone spent weeks planning for the parade, and some simply went with
convenience the night before. When asked about his plans for next year's
parade, he confirmed his desire to return when he said: "I'm thinking about
dressing up as a Kerry supporter next year, so I'm going to stop showering
now." Deeper into the conversation it was revealed that his costume was well
received and only a "dumb, drunk guy" made any inappropriate comments regarding