As a third-generation, Manhattan-born and bred, I cherish our fair city’s annual traditions, especially in the Fall and Winter. One event, one of my all-time favorites, is celebrating an amazing yet scary milestone this year: the 50th Anniversary of the Village Halloween Parade!
The Village Halloween Parade is a tradition amongst the city’s more artistically and creatively inclined. And this year is proving to be no different. Artistic Director Jeanne Fleming, who has been in charge for the last 43 years, has already announced that the Grand Marshalls for the parade will be renowned artist Laurie Anderson and, posthumously, Lou Reed, who wrote the song, Halloween Parade. We are all too familiar with this year’s theme: Upside/Down: Inside/Out. It’s a double meaning, for sure! Part of it centers on our world having been turned upside down and inside out over the last few years thanks to COVID, politics, and more; the other part is all about you…becoming that person who goes to the parade to shed their everyday skin, let their hair down and get down with their bad self! In other words, most real New Yorkers have faced the secondary part of the theme: finding out who we are in our hearts and souls.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
In the interest of full disclosure, I have collaborated with the Artistic Director several times for marketing clients I represented. Jeanne is one of the most dedicated, passionate, and caring folks I have ever had the pleasure of working with and is one of those New York characters you pray to meet and spend time with. So how did Jeanne get involved in, let alone end up running, the most famous Halloween parade on Earth?
For the first seven years of the parade, Fleming would attend as a treat to herself. As Jeanne became more involved in the creative and theatre community downtown, Fleming worked with the gentleman who created the parade, puppeteer Ralph Lee.
“It was an experience unlike any other in the city. It was weird, different and cool, and the community was amazing overall. So close. I needed to be a part of it,” says Fleming.
Lee originally conceived what became the parade as a walk from house to house in his neighborhood, the Village, for his children and their friends. Lee also used this event to showcase his puppets. But Lee wanted to walk away when the parade grew beyond what could only be perceived as a hobby.
BRINGING US TOGETHER
“I couldn’t let this special creation Ralph created just disappear. There were too many people who loved it and counted on it to bring the community together. You see, back then, we didn’t have a Pride Parade. This was where the gay community came together to celebrate alongside the theater and creative communities of the city,” Fleming said.
Jeanne started to take over the tasks that Ralph Lee didn’t want to address: the coordination with the NYPD, permits, etc. Jeanne was so happy to do these tasks as she was already in touch with various city agencies about other projects she was working on. Eventually, Ralph pulled away from the parade, and Jeanne took it over.
“For Ralph, it was about his puppets and entertainment. For me, it was always about the spirit of the city. It was amazing. In those days, we had just pitched the National Endowment of the Arts and the State Arts Council for funding. We approached it as ‘celebration artists’ rather than a regular grant request. And for the first time, they agreed to fund the parade. They even created a new category called ‘multi’ thanks to us. So, there was no way I was walking away now,” Fleming recalled.
When asked, What do you attribute as the staying power of this fantastic event?” Fleming replied, “Being able to find your tribe, be creative, be accepted, even loved, and show positive energy in this world. The Village Halloween Parade is like a Utopian society…it is the one night everyone from all walks of life gets along!”
For more information on the Village Halloween Parade, visit Halloween-NYC.com