The parades that you see in North America – with floats, people in costumes, performing artists, huge designs and constructed shapes – do not happen in India (unless you count Slut Walk). Ever since I started watching tv & movies from way back as a little child, I have seen parades like the one on Thanksgiving (that comes to mind easily) or Mardi Gras or a sports related event (like the winning Stanley Cup team) or, and this is more recently, Gay Pride parades (seems colourful and fun and all that but I would never want to be there).
The closest thing to parades in Kerala are the religious kind that are boring and dull and have the same old crappy costumes and deities that you’d expect year after year. I mean come on, does being religious also mean a total lack of individuality, creativity & talent? I guess so. Temple processions haven’t changed since the turn of the 18th century – they just have better roads and lights now. You’ll never catch me dead attending one of them. My ghost would shun it!
I’d like to see a fun parade, even floats with a message and all that glitter & jazz in India. Hope a few shows up in town.
Parades used to be common in small towns in Saskatchewan, I attended them as a child. Floats would throw candy to the kids watching from the side of the road. The last decade there’ve been almost no parades except a couple each year in the biggest cities here. They’re passe for a lot of people.