September 22, 1939: In the Polish city of Brest-Litovsk (now Brest, in Belarus), "a monumental military parade took place.... What is unusual is that the parade was held not by the Polish army, but by the soviet Red Army and the Nazi German Wehrmacht – together." The excellent blog Poemas del río Wang (which usually features gorgeous illustrations from books) provides historical context, many photos, posters, and cartoons, even a five-minute official German newsreel (the parade takes up the first half). The event itself is a historical footnote, but in Russia, with the "cult of the victory of Soviet people and of the Soviet state in WWII," the very idea of it was anathema and it was denied until last year. [more inside]
posted by languagehat on Sep 27, 2009 - 26 comments

Historic Photos of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
posted by vronsky on Nov 27, 2008 - 11 comments

It's Parade Day, the culmination of the island's biggest and best party of the year, Key West's Fantasy Fest 2008. It's a small party, (in that Key West is only 4-by-2 miles in size), but it increases Key West's population from 27,000 to over 100,000! What's the attraction? Well aside from the body painting [NSFW], casual debauchery [NSFW, GGW, and possible WTF], great freakin' music, freaks getting freaky over freak nakedness, photo ops [again, NSFW], and a pretty much non-stop outrageous gay-straight-bi-leather-whatever One Human Family sexy fun fun fun [NSFW] celebration, Parade Night is miles and miles/five hours of out-of-this-world partying island festival [possible NSFW, whatchutink]! Come now!
posted by humannaire on Oct 25, 2008 - 6 comments

Prvi svetski rat - Gritty and poignant Serbian postcards from the First World War. Just one of the seriously interesting (e.g. check out the collection of 78s) holdings at the Digital National Library of Serbia.
posted by tellurian on Jul 20, 2008 - 12 comments

Frozen Dead Guy Days. Thousands of waving spectators line the streets of Nederland, Colo. (pop. 1,394), as a parade filled with skeletons, helmeted Vikings, pompadoured Elvises and antique hearses makes its way down First Street to mark the beginning of Frozen Dead Guy Days—a celebration that’s part Mardi Gras, part county fair, and all tongue-in-cheek. The 2008 celebration will be held March 7-9.
posted by amyms on Feb 23, 2008 - 9 comments

The 118th Rose Parade launched today, with a bit of a twist -- George Lucas, Dark Lord of the Sith, as Grand Marshall. Is anyone else creeped out a little by this photo? Maybe I just don't know the history of the fully operational Rose Parade? Let's just get to the game, OK?
posted by frogan on Jan 1, 2007 - 55 comments

Balloon crashes and injures two people at Macy's Parade. A giant M&M balloon broke loose in the wind and crashed into a light pole at yesterday's Thanksgiving Parade in New York, knocking the light into a crowd and injuring two people. NBC, the network broadcasting the parade, was the only news crew that did not report the event, instead, cutting to a clip of the balloon from last year.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Nov 25, 2005 - 23 comments

How to Become an iPod. A New Yorker documents his quest to become a Mini iPod for the 2004 NYC Halloween Parade.
posted by jacknose on Nov 3, 2004 - 4 comments

The inimitable Coney Island Mermaid Parade. OK, it was a month ago, but these photo galleries make for some fun browsing. Planning your costume for next year? Our resident mermaidologist offers some inspiration. (some nudity - it's mermaids after all!)
posted by madamjujujive on Jul 25, 2004 - 11 comments

Marilyn is Wrong! Because your life doesn't contain enough nitpicking.
posted by Johnny Assay on Jan 13, 2004 - 25 comments

Expensive clowns. Some Wisconsin senators want to "save Milwaukee's Circus Parade by giving $1.5 million in tax dollars to the Baraboo-based Circus World Museum."
posted by Tubes on Dec 9, 2003 - 22 comments

We're in the midst of the Rose Festival here. I'm watching the Grand Floral Parade on tv now, since I didn't camp out last night on the sidewalk space I taped out last weekend. Yes, that really happens. From the site: The Grand Floral Parade is the second largest all-floral parade in North America and the largest, single-day spectator event in Oregon. Pasadena's Parade is the top one. They expect half a million spectators in person, and even more on TV. Are you watching this with me? What festivals and spectacles do you have in your area?
posted by verso on Jun 8, 2002 - 7 comments

What People Earn. Parade magazine went around shooting pictures of people and finding out what they make. $18k for making tombstones in Minneapolis sounds good. They also have a "Salary Showdown" game.
posted by owillis on Mar 4, 2002 - 47 comments