I love a parade.

I went with my family to the Heart of the Beast MayDay Parade last weekend. Parades make me cry. All of them. The tiny fourth of July parade in northern Wisconsin, where it's hard to tell the difference between the parade and people in their cars trying to get to the parade, makes me well up. And the big, beautiful, MayDay parade with crazy bands and amazing puppets and kids with dirty, dirty feet gets me choked up, too. I've never really known why. As we were leaving MayDay, my brother-in-law said, "that felt very patriotic." and I think that's it exactly. It's this perfect intersection of community, civic pride, crowds, and art.

This is the feeling we're all striving for when we talk about "audience engagement" and "civic participation" in the arts. A parade needs marchers (artists) and watchers (audience) but everyone leaves with a feeling of being part of something bigger than themselves. We can feel the joy of the performers, appreciate their tired feet and sweaty shirts; we wave flags and cheer them on; and sometimes, just sometimes, they throw us some candy.

-laura