for the past few years, our eagerly anticipated holiday tradition around here has been attending america's thanksgiving parade in downtown detroit on thanksgiving morning. what a fabulous way to start off a day of celebration and thanks! i can't think of anything more fun than giant balloons, clowns, horses, unicycles, marching bands, floats w/ skateboard ramps and the big head corps - giant papier-mache head people - all parading down the street in gratitude & anticipation of the holiday season.
the thanksgiving parade is "a celebration of spirit and storybook wonder" and the parade company's world-renouned papier-mache head collection is pretty much the most amazing thing i've ever seen & why i look forward to going every year. here's a bit of background on the heads from the parade company website: "these colorful artifacts were originally acquired from artists in viareggio, italy with some dating back to the 1940s. the ever expanding collection of nearly 300 heads are restored by the seasoned artists at the parade company that have been trained by the talented artisans from viareggio."
based on the last few parades, we knew where the papier-mache heads are stored afterwards so we strategically waited at the end of the route to take pics. i can't tell you how crazy it feels to see these guys coming around the corner - surreal & trippy doesn't even begin to describe it - and, i couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably as i took the parade pics. the big heads really come to life when worn and it's hilarious to see the interactions between the characters and parade-goers. above, are a few pics from the parade and some close-ups of the papier-mache heads taken after the fact.
truly amazing, don't you think? i just love them to pieces!!
i hope everyone had a fantastic thanksgiving holiday!
xoxo
☆ c. emilia ☆
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