Folks tried on their holiday hats to welcome the 17th annual Target Holidazzle Parade on Friday evening in downtown Minneapolis.
Up and down Nicollet Mall, paradegoers in colorful winter wear turned out in the mild evening. Some toted bags from a day of shopping. People perched on first-floor window ledges, sprawled on curbs and scaled statuary for the best vantage points. One family took a breather inside the concave Target sign along Nicollet.
In some spots, the air carried the aromas of cinnamon, popcorn and other snacks from street vendors' vans; on other corners, the tinkling Salvation Army bells rang a double-step cadence for folks still strolling the street. And from everywhere rang the sounds of laughing adults and shrieking, excited children.
Workers in elf hats and comfortable shoes strolled up and down the Mall, hawking "Holidazzle Lights," LED toys that at least one group of kids made believe were light sabers as they waited for the parade to begin.
A whoop went up as the exterior lighting went down, just past 6:30 p.m. Dads hoisted tots onto their shoulders, and everyone else craned to see past the crowds that gathered along the byway.
Bullseye, the bull terrier Target mascot led the way; his trainer, crouched in the front of the float signaled the dog to bark in time with the music. Onlookers laughed; some barked back. Throngs of belighted participants frolicked behind, alongside floats depicting vignettes from Pinocchio, the Wizard of Oz, the Nutcracker, Hansel and Gretel and other classic stories.
If they looked even more frolicsome than usual, it may have been because the Holidazzle Parade has finally finished a three-year-long process of refitting costumes with energy-saving LED lights, replacing the original incandescent bulbs that lit up costumes. The change, said Holidazzle spokeswoman Leah Wong, allowed participants to ditch one of two 5-pound battery packs they had carried to power their costumes in past parades.
But it was all the same, it seemed, to families snuggled in blankets on the curb, or friends laughing against shop windows. The holiday season was here.
