Night Parade

Dude in Quebecois Carnaval attire

The absolute best event of Carnaval was the Night Parade.  I went to check out the parade with Gozde and Maria.  Here was one of the guys on the bus on the way to the parade. Check out his festive attire!  Real fur is the thing to wear at carnaval, especially fur hats (sorry peta). In Canadian culture people value living off the land and trappers are still common. The red/multicolored woven belt is also worn for carnival. It's made by the Amerindians of Quebec.

Boy selling noisemakers to the crowd

We had no idea what to expect. Crowds of people lined the streets.  There were cops on motorcycles with the little seat attached to the side of the bike. They were whipping by with lights flashing and sirens blaring, partly to clear the street but mostly for fun!  The boy with the demon eyes was part of the crew that came by to sell long trumpets that people blow for Carnaval.  Their traditional noise makers are cooler & louder than the ones we yanks blow for New Year's.

The crowd was almost entirely sober, unlike Carnival (Mardi Gras) in New Orleans.  There were plenty of singles hanging out but it was also a family event. There were kids, aunts, uncles, and grandparents together.  The sides of the streets were packed.  We had to climb on top of a snow bank to see over the crowd. That's Gozde and I.

Dancing Balloon People

Clown car and dancers

Now that's a big skirt!

Sweet Mardi Gra-esque float

The floats were both fun and beautiful.  Everything had a french flair to celebrate the heritage of Les Quebecois.  Some floats had singers, dancers, or musicians.  In between the floats were companies of marching bands, acrobats, clowns, and men twirling sticks with fire on the ends.  Here's only a small sampling of the parade floats.

In french, a snowman is called un bonhomme de naige.  The guest of honor at Carnaval de Quebec is a snowman who's called "Bonhomme" for short. No, not the dude from U2.  His float was the very last one in the parade and it happened to stop very close to us.  He climbed down, walked to our side of the street and had fun with the crowd.  The guy in the suit was a giant.  He had to be almost 7' tall.

Marie & I heading home from our winter dance (I'm so cool)

After the parade ended, we warmed up on the bus ride back toward the old city.  Then, we joined a hip hop dance soiree outside.  Instead of dico lights we had a castle made of ice lit in a rainbow of changing colors!  Super fun.