Carnivale would not be the same without its Giant Puppets.

The very first parade had giant puppets by Al Laurie and the tradition has been continued by others and even some of his originals showed up for many years. In fact the lion and the green creature were in the very first Carnivale parade that was on the sidewalks of Manitou Springs. I have a photo of the the lion leaning against the outside wall of a bar from that year. Just not digitized. Yes, taken before digital cameras existed.

The tall happy skeleton and the banjo playing crocodile were very fun additions this year. Though I kinda remember the croc being in last year’s parade also.

Then there were the various versions of Jesters, very happy and rather evil looking, short and tall who were there to entertain the Royalty that joined in the parade.

A scooter riding white rabbit was looking for his Alice was a little out of sync with the line-up. Soon though he found his way back into the Alice in Wonderland participants that made for a bit of magic in this parade.

The Queen of Hearts with her card entourage was one of my most favorite entries in this year’s parade. She had them so the actually were walking with her, legs swinging back and forth. From the cute shoes, the flamingos and the masked faces, I was totally enchanted by this entry. Quite a bit of work to create this “float” for the parade. 

And remember, this was one of the coldest parade days ever! Look at the cute costumes that could not have been very warm. But everyone looked very happy at the end under the pavilion.

The crowd was about half normal size, but this may have been one of the largest and most imaginative Carnivale parades ever.

I have come to the conclusion that writing on this blog everyday is not practical. And I need to write other places.

No, I am not quitting the blog, just may not be daily.

Nor am I done sharing photos of Carnivale.

And I will still do at least 52 real trail hikes this year and blog about them.