The Species Parade is on Friday May 15 at 4:30 on the Brunswick Green. It is a community event and we have costumes and puppets. You can be anything you want. Everybody from the greater Brunswick area dresses up as animals or other species. The event is meant to get the word out about all of the animals of the world and to work for protection rather than extinction. It's a mile-long walk that starts and ends at the Green, and the Brunswick high school band marches as well. Al from the Theater Project and Gary from Gulf of Maine Books are the grand marshals of the parade. The artists and staff at Spindleworks make a beautiful float and costumes every year. There are different themes of the parade every year and this year's theme is "Water Bodies". I made a couple of fish to add to the float, and we made some seaweed out of wood and pool noodles! Although the parade is a very fun time for everyone involved, it is important to remember that the event is about some serious environmental issues. We hope to raise awareness about pollution and species extinction. In preparation for this year's parade Spindleworkers learned about the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We learned that it is the single largest living thing on Earth, and that it is home to many different species. Humans are putting oil and other dangerous chemicals in the water and it is destroying the reef and killing all of the beautiful animals. The reef doesn't look good because it's being bleached of it's color. Humans need to learn not to put anything in the water that will harm the sea animals.
Even though these are big and serious issues, the Species Parade is a chance for the community to come together to have fun, raise awareness, and march to save the animals. Spindleworks hopes to see you all on the Green next Friday...wear your own water bodies- themed costume, but please no real animals!!
- written by artist Melissa
For inspiration, here are some images from last year's parade!
