- Title: USA: New Yorkers go gaga at the city's annual Halloween Parade
- Date: 2nd November 2010
- Summary: PARADE PARTICIPANTS DRESSED AS THE "JOKER" FROM THE FILM "THE DARK KNIGHT" PARADE PARTICIPANT DRESSED AS A PHEASANT A COUPLE DRESSED AS CONFETTI A PARADE PARTICIPANT DRESSED AS AN AXE MURDERER
- Embargoed: 17th November 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVAEVWOM7JC4LSI10Z26PG2NXTU9
- Story Text: They were out to scare, shock, surprise and excite. Thousands of New Yorkers and Big Apple visitors turned out in their Halloween best on Sunday (October 31) as part of the city's annual Village Halloween Parade.
This year's parade had the theme "Memento Mori" -- inspired by the Day of the Dead puppets which first appeared in the parade about twenty years ago. As participants gathered for the beginning of the parade in downtown Manhattan, a wide range of skeleton puppets shook their decorated heads alongside musicians, dancers and people dressed as aliens.
The parade, now in its 38th year, has grown exponentially from the first few years, when there were only about a hundred participants. This year -- the crowds were large and vibrant, and the costumes ran the full gamut -- from predictable ghouls and Satans to contemporary pop culture figures such as Lady Gaga, the Na'vi people from James Cameron's Avatar and late actor Heath Ledger's "The Joker" from the film "The Dark Knight".
Then there was the quirky -- Gregory Rodilicko who has been attending the parade for the last 30 years as the Metro man.
"I've been coming here for thirty years, but I was a Metro man in those days, that's when there was a handful of people out here and that was it," said Gregory Rodilicko.
While Bjorn Delacruz said he thought of himself as a glorified bowl of rice. His ensemble was inspired by Chinatown rice bowls and his sister's flowers. He termed it "Happy Rice Extravaganza Fun".
"Last year I had a totem pole on my head, and then I was walking around Chinatown, looking for a good bowl of rice and so that's where I bought these masks. And then I put the bowl of rice on a bunch of flowers, my sister had a bunch of flowers on hers so she gave me the inspiration there," said Delacruz.
While another Halloween enthusiast, Debbie Ristoff, dressed as Red Riding Hood with her best friend -- the wolf -- on a leash.
"We came to watch the parade, we got invited to join in, so it's been a lot of fun." said Ristoff.
It seemed like a lot of fun for the many others attending the parade as well. They had gathered for what is billed as the largest public Halloween celebration in the country. According to the parade organizers, an average of 2 million people attend annually. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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