It seems like only yesterday we were talking about the Mermaid Parade, but alas, summer is just about gone and it’s time to turn our attention to fall festivities. To that end, the organizers of the Village Halloween Parade have informed us that this year’s theme will be “Cabinet of Curiosities: An Imaginary Menagerie.” The 44th installment of the legendary walk down Sixth Avenue will celebrate “the hybrids, mash-ups, and frisson of crossed identities,” according to a letter from Jeanne Fleming, the parade’s artistic and producing director.
What does that mean, exactly? As examples, Fleming cites PT Barnum’s Fiji Mermaid (a monkey head attached to a taxidermied fish) and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (which celebrates its bicentennial next year). She says the parade will be led by official puppets representing “a bestiary of fantastic hybrids, culled from the hallowed halls of Cryptozoology. Think Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster, Chupacabra and a herd of Pink Elephants.
The parade takes place Oct. 31. Follow these instructions to join in, and resist going as some sort of Trump-Putin hybrid. Too obvious.