Parading About

~My theme for this month’s Nano Poblano challenge is Motion~

Back in September, I participated in my second Beltline Lantern Parade, which just celebrated its seventh year in Atlanta. The Beltline Lantern Parade is part of the Art on the Beltline program and the brainchild Chantelle Rytter and the Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons, who host the cavalcade of lights, music and dance transiting the Eastside Trail the first Saturday after Labor Day each year.

Last year, my bestie and I concocted our own Krewe of paraders (based on the idea of a Mardi Gras Krewe) called the Krewe of the Sultry Sirens.

This year, we took it up a notch.

This year, we got a banner.

Unlike most of the other 60,000-odd revelers, content to simply flourish their home-made lantern creations, the “Sirens” add an “Under-the-Sea Theme” costume component, dressing up as “mermaids,” “fish” and a “crustacean,” and bearing jellyfish lanterns.

We also tossed beads and candy this year, very a la Mardi Gras, as we made our way down the trail.

Because we are completely over the top (and quite happy to be so), next year, we’re setting up a Facebook page for the Krewe and taking pledges for the Surfrider Foundation, a group dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s ocean, waves and beaches.

That way at least our desperate need to attract attention to ourselves will contribute to a good cause.

Which is certainly worth parading about.