The Parade of the Lost Souls

"Honor the Dead!" That was the theme of tonight's event. First, we gathered at my house and carved pumpkins. For most of us, it was our first time having a go at the messy vegetables. But, after much sawing and scraping we produced rather sorry-looking Jack-O-Lanterns. 

Then, finally, the clock struck 6:30pm and we made our way to Commercial Drive 

(the main road we live off of). 

It was time for the Parade of the Lost Souls, an annual event that honors the dead. According to Wikipedia, it's an evening where: 

"Performers, artists and willing spirits come together to honour the dead, wake the living and celebrate the brilliant cycle of life. Skeletal Brides, blessed witches, ghastly ghouls, and prancing pixies mingle side by side." 

We joined crowds of people dressed in bizarre costumes who walked up and down the closed off street. 

There were flame jugglers, choirs that sang eerie-sounding songs in latin, and a plethora of strange dances and performances. 

Of course, an event such as this speaks volumes about the general vibe of the neighborhood. Many of the people who were yelling: "Honor the dead" or were hanging from tree branches, were people I recognized from supermarkets or from coffee shops. It was definitely their chance to act as strange as they liked because for once, everyone else would join them. 

Luckily, it was a clear night (no rain), so we ventured out of our warm and cozy home a number of times. Each time, we encountered different performances (like an opera singer singing a dismal and bone-chilling song) and saw more costumes (like Jesus on stilts). But in the end, when I finally went to sleep, I decided that it was a lot less creepy than some other things I've seen here in this neighborhood. That is, having the wackos all gather together, meant that the rest of the area was weirdos free!  :)