After a late-night crowd packed Orchestra Hall to hear indie-rock bands, Sunday seemed a bit subdued at Spark24, the round-the-clock music and theater fest in downtown Minneapolis.

Then things got weird.

At 1 p.m. the Liberty Parade came rolling down Nicollet Mall to a crowd of several hundred. The Holidazzle it wasn't. Instead of floats with politicians and pageant winners, it was a confluence of weird, funny, arty types -- 30 to 40 "floats" -- all charged with showcasing their idea of liberty.

There were "art cars"; giant puppets from Seattle; Guy Fawkes lookalikes who declared a "war on Scientology" while blasting "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" theme song, and antiwar women riding a giant "Dr. Strangelove"-type missile.

The puppetmaster had been short on volunteers to carry his massive creations until a large contingent of excited Ron Paul supporters seemed to materialize out of nowhere. They carried the puppeteer's 20-by-50-foot replica of the U.S. Constitution.

"These guys hear the word 'liberty,' and they just want to let freedom ring," parade organizer Chris Pennington joked.

Star Tribune, Star Tribune
Puppets of Condoleezza Rice, left, Donald Rumsfeld, John McCain as the dog, President George W. Bush and Dick Cheney lie on the ground after the parade. The Backbone Campaign, a grassroots group from Washington State, brought them to Minneapolis for the parade.

Tom Horgen • 612-673-7909