Halloween Parade 2009

Preparations for the annual Village Halloween Parade start at 2 PM, five hours in advance of the parade itself. For more information about the parade and previous years' photos, see the links below. This year, with the parade on a Saturday, I decided to head to the setup area early in the day. This is actually a good time for perusing and photographing the many participants who arrive early - there are no crowds and still some daylight.

It was a very fortuitous decision, because as the parade began, slowly did the rain, starting as a light drizzle and building to a rain heavy enough to put a damper on the event. What began as crowds crushing to see the parade became a mass exodus as paraders and spectators began fleeing. I have no idea how many marchers remained, but I imagine a good number were not daunted after all the work and preparations that many put into this yearly extravaganza.

I did some photography for a short time in the rain, holding a umbrella at the same time, but this quickly became too tedious and with risk of damaging my camera equipment.
Participating in the parade, either as a photographer or a parader, requires planning and strategy. In all the years I have been to the parade, I do not remember rain. But nature is not guaranteed to cooperate...

NOTE: A history of the parade, with links and photos from the past three years can be found on my previous postings: Halloween Parade Preview 2006, Halloween Parade 2006, Village Parade 2007 Preview, Village Halloween Parade 2007, Village Halloween Parade 2007 Part 2, Halloween Parade 2008, Halloween Parade 2008 Part 2