The Halloween Show
10/28/2019
By Joy Lynn Clark
Lexington, KY
Boyfriend and I got together sunday morning to have a nice breakfast. At first, I thought the weather was going to be horrible because it was overcast. Eventually, things cleared up. BF wanted to do something outside like go to Keeneland or something. Sounds great to me (ok to be fair, I totally knew that Saturday was the last day because it was all over the news yet since I am still learning about my new city I thought that maybe he knew something I didn’t). I am like, Mayjorcat is gonna love this. So I grab my pen, pad, camera, and Mayjorcat and we all head there.
So, we drive all around Keeneland. Nope no races. Mayjorcat and I clown the hell out of boyfriend and then we look confused as to what we can do instead. Well, let me check my notifications: The Halloween Parade, Lexington Parks and Recreation, going on now. I don’t tell FB I am interested but plenty of others are. So we head downtown.
So we drive around and see all of the setup around the Modern Courthouse lawn and decide to get a parking spot. I wish I had a costume, and I wish I had my mask. I even started singing about the mask in random spots.
The Old and New Courthouses are located downtown and are usually surrounded by plenty of activities and events nearly everyday. If you are new to town and are looking for something to do, the Courthouses are usually a good place to start.
Even though our group of three are totally unprepared for this spectacle, I can tell this is going to be fun. The Parade route is posted, there are vendors, food trucks, a beer tent, and a soundstage. I was hoping to have a drink myself so we traveled a few blocks where Mayjorcat and I got gluten free libations. Boyfriend made good use of the beer tent.
It is about 4:30 or 5 p.m. and things begin to warm up on the soundstage. There were dance performances, a minstrel show with a band, and The UK Baton Girls. The whole thing looks utterly ridiculous and boy was it fun! Little kids giggled, my eyes were so wide I wasn’t sure what to focus on next.
After the performances the groups head from the stage and people begin to assemble for the parade. We head down to main street were we got an awesome spot where we can get a view of all of the action. I hand Mayjorcat the phone and let him do some shooting.
The cops come through to clear things up and Parks and recreation puts up some neon colored crowd thingies. The Parade begins.
Another ridiculous spectacle. It is also getting dark now, and there’s smoke machines, fire, glowing things and more silly costumes. This is so fun. I can’t wait til next year.
(That’s how I felt when I wrote this but, after photographs were stolen during the upload process, I changed my mind. All of the video was stolen)
