Parade Practicalities

This is one of those snotty blog entries I have been criticized for writing, so stop now if you only want to read my cheery, banal comments.

The Gay Pride parade was today, and I thought about attending. I had heard from friends of mine that it was "a blast", and as a recovering anthropologist, it seemed it might be a worthwhile opportunity for cultural observation. In my mind I had visions of the Gay Pride parade in San Francisco, which is fired by political speeches, or the Mardi Gras Parades of New Orleans, where it is absolutely a huge, all day long, wild party in the streets. I have fully enjoyed both of those.

Then I saw on the Reykjavik Gay Pride facebook page an announcement about the deadline for applications to participate in the parade. The application deadline was August 1st, and the parade was today, August 7th. My heart sank. Suddenly this sounded a lot more like the Searchlight 4th of July parade, where residents decide at the last minute to throw some red white and blue paint on something and call it a float.

I mean, I know I am being judgmental, but the preparation for the Rose Parade, which will take place on New Years Day 2011, has ALREADY begun in California.

So, as I sat around at home this morning, thinking about cleaning my bathrooms until going into town to watch the parade, and then having soup at my friend's house, I realized just how much that felt like I would be putting my precious time into something which had just sort of been slapped together at the last minute.

Ok, so there I said it. Snotty California girl strikes again.

Comments

Thordis said…
Well, one of my friends is one of the people who organize this every year and they put in about 7 months of real preparation, start around febrúar. This parade has been running every year for quite some time and each time just gets better :) It really is a blast :)
August 7, 2010 at 10:27 PM
Lissy said…
Thanks Thordis! I absolutely want to go to it one of these years!
August 8, 2010 at 9:34 AM
Hildigunnur said…
Jamm - við höfum ekki mikla parades reynslu hér, enda kunnum við ekkert á skrúðgöngur. Trukkarnir voru mjög misflottir en þetta er bara svo gríðarlega mikil stemning, allir með mislita hatta og kransa og allir bara svo glaðir og stoltir, ég fæ alltaf tár í augun :) En ef þú ert að leita að einhverju showi sem lítur út eins og flottar parades í USA, þá finnurðu það væntanlega ekki hér.
August 8, 2010 at 10:19 AM
Lissy said…
Good point Hildigunnur, that the audience is perhaps as much a part of the entertainment here as the parade, which is not a bad thing in and of itself. But it means one must really be in the mood to go, which I unfortunately was not. I am, on the other hand, having a ton of fun up in the countryside, tromping around saga places!
August 8, 2010 at 10:49 AM
Thordis said…
and what you are doing now... visiting the lovely Skagafjörður... will always top any parade :-) My best to Ágústa and Óskar!
August 8, 2010 at 2:15 PM
Hildigunnur said…
Jamm - það tekur mig 2 mínútur að labba niðureftir og svo hálftíma eða svo að horfa, gerir ekki mikið til þó ég sé ekki í gríðarlegu stuði :D
August 8, 2010 at 7:09 PM
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