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.
Tom Horgen • 612-673-7909
