Summer Solstice

Last Saturday we went to the 20th Annual Solstice Parade and Fremont Fair. I remember from my years of living in Minneapolis in the early ‘90s that when one lives at such a northern latitude, the summer solstice is a big deal. People really want to get out and celebrate the longest day of the year. They tend to go a little crazy, in fact, as some of the photos and videos you'll see later in this post will demonstrate.

We had been told that the Solstice Parade was a must-see Seattle event, so a little before noon, we got on our bikes and rode the three miles north across the channel to Fremont, the artsy neighborhood that calls itself “The Center of the Universe,” and took up a spot along the parade route.

We were not disappointed. The Solstice Parade is a wacky, funky, grassroots community parade that has four rules for all participants:

* No printed words or recognizable logos.
* No live animals (except guide animals).
* No motorized vehicles (except necessary wheelchairs).
* No (real) weapons.

Those rules right there made me want to go. Mainly the first one — most parades you see these days are just vehicles for political campaigning and commercial exposure, which makes them repetitive and boring, in my opinion. Take away the printed words and the recognizable logos, and voilà — you have an ad-free event. (When was the last time you attended an ad-free public event?)

As is traditional, the parade was led (or preceded) by dozens and dozens of bicyclists, many of whom were in costume, and many more of whom were wearing only body paint and some strategically deployed accessories. Luckily for them, it was a warm day. The cyclists rode their bikes back and forth numerous times from the head of the parade to the end of the route, so we got to see our favorites several times. There was the pair of women, one painted like a zebra, the other like a leopard; the woman painted green with an allover pattern of big red lips; the guy painted bright red and wearing a short vinyl gladiator skirt; the two women with extremely intricate and carefully painted paisley patterns in coordinating shades of blue and green; the man on an orange bike who was expertly tiger-striped. And too many more to mention.

Since pictures are really better than words in this instance, here are a few shots from our cameras.

(All of the still photos except the orange praying mantis and the blue Ganesha are mine; all the videos are David's.)

After the parade, we locked up our bikes and wandered around the fair a bit, but it was too crowded (and hot & muggy, believe it or not), for us, so after we had our veggie gyros and beer, we headed home. I would definitely go to that parade again. Maybe even be in it! (But only if I can be fully clothed.)