Last night Margaret Hurst and I drew the annual Halloween parade in Greenwich Village. What a blast! I hadn’t really seen the parade since I was in college, and it was fun to stake out a bench on 6th Ave with Marg and get involved with it. The crowd was the best part of the parade – they were really enjoying themselves. The woman in the above drawing who is sitting on a tree branch for a better look drew tons of cheers and applause as she shimmied up the tree. Here are some of the revelers —There were many women in short, short skirts (good thing the weather was mild!), lots of political costumes – many Sarah Palin/John McCain combos, draculas, witches, drag queens, and even a man dressed as a kissing booth. (I didn’t take the opportunity to get a 25¢ kiss…) The parade featured floats, puppets, marching bands complete with witch hats, and the grand finale – a huge swell of costumed partiers who clogged 6th Ave. and walked behind the parade up to the twenties.The drawing above shows some of the puppets and floats that are an integral part of the parade. One of the puppet artists involved in the parade worked on the Lion King play, I think, can’t remember his name. But the work was wonderful.  Another artist spotted at the parade – my friend Marg drawing, with the pre-requisite glow-in-the-dark head gear:She looked great and got some compliments from the crowd. Next to her was a woman with a Godzilla head who also elicited a ton of praise. The crowd was friendly and full of fun. It seems like Halloween is the only time many people can unleash their creativity, and the Village was full of just that! Everyone walking around laughing, talking to each other, dancing (at times) and generally having fun. Marg’s niece Alison and her friend Trinka were with us as well, and we deliberately walked back uptown through the thickest part of the crowd to get the full Halloween experience! We had a good time, and plan to go back next year. As we sat drawing we attracted the attention of an older man with a long grey beard, an Asian patterned wool cap, and a ton of silver jewelry – in short, a Greenwich Village CLASSIC. He left us with some advice – “enjoy your evening, enjoy your art, enjoy your life!” Words to live by. More evenings of reportage like this will go a long way towards making it happen. Cheers!