Festivals

Just a small sampling of the West Hollywood Halloween Parade, Oct. 31

Three festivals, three different scenes:

The WeHo Halloween Parade was a rollicking street party. Santa Monica Boulevard was packed with people in costume, walking around and looking at each other. I saw a drag queen go-go dancer in a wheeled cage, a whole lot of monsters and space aliens, and a group of friends dressed up as those red plastic monkey toys with interlocking arms. Toward the end it got very crowded, and I wanted to escape.

An altar at the Day of the Dead Festival, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Nov. 1

The Day of the Dead Festival was excellent… mellow, colorful, spooky, artsy, musical. Families sat around to the altares they had made to commemorate loved ones, people strolled around in finest skeleton face paint and Mexican peasant dress, and traditional Mexican dancers performed on a colorful stage set up in the park. A troupe went by in Aztec headdresses. Hipsters milled around by the dozens. Older Anglo couples with NPR tote bags sat eating tacos and fried dough and watching the ballet folklórico. I think this was my favorite.

Part of the boat parade, Newport Beach, Dec. 21

 We parked on a side street, among the summer homes, and wound our way down to the beach to watch the boat parade. Restless teenagers chased each other around and pretended to fight. We watched the boats go by, decorated in colored lights, some with a Santa waving from on board. Afterward, we walked for a short stretch along the boardwalk and surreptitiously spied on the rich people having parties in their glass fronted houses filled with paintings. We went home without dinner, afraid the friend of a friend we were with would lead us to a posh restaurant from which we could not escape. A quick trip to the supermarket produced Odwalla bars to tide over the hungry.