Photo Details

April

For the past 20 years, Sharon has joined In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre in Minneapolis to help prepare for the annual May Day celebration (see back cover). Starting in April, hundreds of volunteers from all walks of life gather in workshops to create costumes, floats, and larger than life puppets. The parade bursts into the streets in an explosion of movement and color the first Sunday in May.

This is the Paint Lady.
Photographed by

For nearly 35 years, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre has presided over the annual parade and May Day celebration in Minneapolis. The one-of-a-kind walking theatrical performance is a joyous annual ritual for nearly 50,000 people in the Twin Cities, marking the end of the long Minnesota winter. Two hundred people—children and adult dancers, puppeteers, and musicians—participate in the parade and pageant, which culminates in a Tree of Life ceremony in Powerhorn Park, where a flotilla of handmade boats representing the Sun paddle across a lake to reawaken the Tree of Life. At the end of the journey, the large crowd of spectators breaks into song with Gene Autry's "You Are My Sunshine," banishing winter for yet another year.

Each year's event reflects a specific theme reflecting the times, and the work of organizing is now a year-round task. Meetings to brainstorm the upcoming celebration begin in February, when In the Heart of the Beast invites the public to share ideas and images for the year's event. You can learn more about In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre and the annual May Day parade and celebration at www.hobt.org.

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