One of Vancouver's most colourful cultural events, the Parade of Lost Souls, is returning on Oct. 29. Where exactly it will take place remains (for now) a closely guarded secret.
The popular Halloween event put on by the Public Dreams Society, which traditionally was held on and around a jam-packed Commercial Drive, is again heading somewhere smaller and new this year.
Part of the secret location is part of the excitement of the event, said managing director Laura Grieco. We did the same thing last year and a lot of people told us it was a really fun part of it because they don't know until the day and it is part of the new concept for the event. It also, realistically and practically, helps us keep the numbers manageable. So if you really love it and love the idea, you will come, but it won't just be stumbling off of a major street to find it. It will not be another big Commercial Drive street party.
The downsizing of the formerly massive event, which Public Dreams has put on since 1994 but called off in 2009 after losing funding from the B.C. Arts Council and gaming grants, is in keeping with the non-profit's new mandate to help bring buzz to neighbourhoods that are a bit more off the beaten track when it comes to creative, community-involved events. (This past summer, for example, the group held its annual Illuminares lantern festival at Canada Place, the second year in a row it was staged away from the Trout Lake area.)
While the smaller parades, now called Secret Soul Walks, may be a shadow of their former selves in terms of scale, this year's instalment promises to be much bigger than last year's event in an alley off Victoria Street.
We have over 50 houses who are working with us directly, said Grieco. Last year we kind of approached different people in a neighbourhood and said to them 'Can you let us use your garage?' but there wasn't much more than that, and so this year the artists are kind of going a step further and are talking to them asking things like 'How did you come here?' Really trying to get the stories of this neighbourhood and how the art and performances can reflect something about that. There are several incredible artists who will be working directly with the residents in that block to help them decorate their houses to help them prepare art installations in their garages and backyards.
The theme for this year's version is to create a portal into the past and the location will only be announced the day of on the group's website. A dance party will follow afterwards at the Maritime Labour Centre (1880 Triumph St.).
Produced in conjunction with The Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret, Public Dreams holds by-donation workshops held Oct. 18 to 23 at Britannia Community Centre covering such topics as craft making, zombie dance choreography, set decoration, mask making and all manner of lost soulful arts. Visit publicdreams.org for more information.
