I was a volunteer at the Ithaca Festival Parade tonight, and despite growing up here, it’s really the first parade I can remember attending.  And if you ever want to capture a glimpse of the culture and soul of Ithaca, you should find a reason to visit this parade.  I only had my phone camera with me, but I took a few shots because I wanted to be able to share.  The parade is held every June as a kickoff to the town festival.  It’s held after most students from Cornell and Ithaca College have left town for the summer.  And what you’re left with, is a celebration of a very unique group of people…’Ithacans’.  A few pictures and then a video of something I can’t quite explain.  (You might want to keep your volume down when you watch it.)

In order of appearance in the slideshow: 1) Bagman.  Apparently, he’s famous.  He was yelling that the black bag represents oil. 2) Greensprings, Ithaca’s Natural Burial Preserve (yes, that’s a woman laying in a coffin.) 3) Not sure what these two were promoting, but I heard something about fiddles and dancing rainbows.  4) Yup, that’s the Tompkins County Amateur Radio Club (and of course he’s carrying an antenna!) 5) Go Ithaca Wastewater Treatment Facility!  (That would be a walking toilet, connected to the walking treatment facility and finally, clean water) 6) And that?  That’s just a man riding a penny-farthing.   

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