Colorful costumes and culture on display at Chicago's Arts in the Dark Parade
Chicago's kickoff to Halloween festivities paraded down Columbus Drive in Grant Park Saturday night, as the 12th annual Arts in the Dark Halloween Parade brought together more than 100 cultural organizations.
USA Today has named the Arts in the Dark Parade has been named a top-10 Halloween parade in the U.S., writing that the parade shows off "creativity at its best, from handmade costumes to lighting displays, scenic spectacles, puppets, dancing, music, and more."
What makes the parade most special is that it is truly a celebration of the city's diversity and its young people. A total of 4,000 performers came from every pocket of the city to put on a show.
Arts in the Dark parade cofounder Mark Kelly had good reason to be feeling pretty great. He met CBS News Chicago in a ringmaster costume with a colorful hat.
"It feels wonderful," he said. "It's not this costume. It's that everyone is ready to deliver."
Just ask Camrie (not sure of spelling), a 9 year old from the far South Side.
More than 100 organizations were excited to participate in the 12th Annual Arts in the Dark Halloween parade.
"It's an incredible representation of Mexican culture, Black culture — Black dance comes to the fore — artists and creative youth coming from literally every part of the city," Kelly said.
Kelly said each of Chicago's 50 wards is represented in the parade.
"There are no politicians. There are beauty queens," he said. "Well, there may be a drag queen or two."
There are also no sponsorships, branded T-shirts or groups waving hello. Arts in the Dark leans into masks, costumes, choreography, puppetry, and spectacle.
Heather Blelawski has been in the parade since the beginning. She made close to 60 of this year's puppets.
"I use a lot of upcycled stuff or things that are lightweight, like pool noodles, and then I just get inspiration and build it," she said.
It's that creative spark that gave Ringmaster Kelly the idea for Arts in the Dark decades ago — finally making it a reality 12 years ago. Every year, what he built just gets bigger.
"We outgrew State Street," he said. "Last year, it was sort of pandemonium on the street. You couldn't move."
And if parades need anything, it's room to move. In its new location on Columbus Drive, the parade has more than that — it has room to grow.
"We want to become one of those parades that is on a bucket list of someone to see," Kelly said.
In other words, Kelly would like to see the Arts in the Dark Parade fall into the same category as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
"Just a hell of a lot more funky," Kelly said.
