Join the parade! You and your family and friends can create a costume or giant puppet and join the parade... It won't be a parade without YOU! 2012 Parade Workshops now! Check out the workshops and open house workshops at our Workshop page here Artists will assist participants in creating their own masks, costumes and giant puppets. The Handmade Parade will offer everyone in the community an opportunity to make art together and create a public theatrical performance. Parade workshops are designed to include all ages and a broad and culturally diverse cross section of the entire community. Who can
participate? Think about encouraging your running group, school class, sports team, business or church group to work together with a theme and participate in the parade as a group! We seek to bring our community together in a creative, non political way. Our primary goal is to strengthen our community by valuing and celebrating our wonderful diversity. The purpose of the parade is to foster community involvement in the arts through participation in every aspect. The informal atmosphere and hands-on character of the experience allows members of the community to work directly with artists and each other while gaining confidence in their own abilities. Most importantly, by using our collective creative energy to develop this celebration, we can overcome barriers to community participation and harmony. We’ll create a community participation celebration that will bring us together while having fun! " What will the parade be? Handmade Parade Rules:
Please: no written words, logos or motorized vehicles (except wheelchairs). Entries should not advertise a particular religious or political belief. All parade participants are required to be in costume. | WOW What a parade!over 600 participants!Thanks to all who made a puppet costume or helped someone else and helped create this magical event and thanks to the many of you how came out to support us! A special thanks to the Town of Hillsborough, The Orange County Arts Commission, UNC Health for financial support and to Pinewoods Montessori for making a workshop space available and Rick Ashby State Farm for offering to store our puppets and supplies this year. We will be posting links to images soon! In the meantime please post your images on face book page The Handmade Parade is coming! The magical Handmade Parade will roll at 2 pm on Saturday October 20, 2012! The Fresh Roots Festival will be happening the same day throughout Hillsborough with continuous activities all day including 5 free band concerts from noon until 10 pm. Wednesdays Open Workshops 6:00 to 9:00 pm Sundays Open Workshops 3:00 to 6:00 pm more info here Parade participants: You must be registered to participate in the parade... This years theme is Creatures and Characters of the ENO. Characters could come from history of the area or could be mythical characters where ever your imagination leads you! View videos of the parade here! Join in the creative process! To receive priority announcements of new workshops, and special events, Sign up here to receive Handmade Parade News. Folks interested in getting the Handmade Parade newsletter can sign up with our Online
Form to receive priority notice of workshops,
special events and puppet building get-togethers. You can also request our free guides: Handmade Parade Tools and Materials Guide - Six pages of extensive tips, recommendations and where to find free, recycled and the most economical sources for tools and materials. Puppet Building Manual - 24 pages of planning tips, recipes, and how-to sketches. Sponsored by the Hillsborough Arts Council, The Handmade Parade is a grass roots community participation celebration. In other words, this is your event! What do we need most? ...You! Wow! What a grand Celebration of community art! Here are images from the last parade: Parade Route and Map The parade starts at 2:00 pm. Here is a link to a map with the Handmade Parade route, traffic re-routing and parking information. Please note that there is NO PARKING along the parade route. Please arrive well before 2:00 to find good parking and a great viewing spot. Restaurants and stores are open! The Handmade Parade will start at the corner of East Margaret Lane and South Churton Street. The parade will continue up Churton Street to the Historic Burwell School at the corner of West Union St. and Churton Street. Follow the parade to the Burwell School for the Grand There will be music, and a grand finale' on the lawn of the Burwell School! Food and beverages will also be available Registration is required to be in the parade.All participants must be in a costume! Past Parades Check out the 2009 Handmade Parade Slideshow! There
were lots of smiling faces in the crowds that lined the streets and
more than a few gasps of surprise and wonder at the participants'
astonishing creations! A great day was had by all. Thank you one and
all for your spirit and creativity! We've created a Flickr photo sharing site so that all can share their photo's and videos. Here is a link to the site.
Please pass this on to your friends that took pics too so that we can
all share with each other. You can also post comments at the site. Folks
that were in the parade didn't get to see the whole parade so sharing
your pics would mean a lot to us! You can also post comments at the Hillsborough Arts Council Facebook site.
Liz Lerman in 'Dancing in Community: Its Roots in Art'  |
The Hillsborough Handmade Parade was conceived in 2007 as an annual community participation celebration by Mark Donley and Tinka Jordy. In the spring of 2008 a series of workshops both public and private were initiated that led to the First Annual Handmade Parade in October 2008.
The Cleveland Museum of Arts Parade The Circle was created by Robin Van Lear as a community outreach program. Her community work bringing art to the public in an accessible way, was one of the inspirations for our Handmade Parade. The Hillsborough Handmade Parade rules come directly from Robin Van Lears vision of bringing community together through the arts.
Volunteers:
Our volunteer artists have a wealth of experience as teachers and leaders in creating celebration art. Working together as the artistic directors Mark Donley and Tinka Jordy are longtime residents of Orange County. Tinka is a nationally recognized figurative sculptor. Donley and Jordy are originally from New Orleans, where street performance is part of the culture. For two weeks during parade season, Jenny Stansell has come all the way from New Orleans for the past two years to assist in giant puppet builds and conduct workshops. Jenny is a talented New Orleans art teacher and inspired seamstress. Her talents and bright spirit have proven invaluable.
We are actively seeking volunteers to help make this community building project a success. Please consider volunteering a bit of time to this worth-while project!
The purpose of this outreach event is to foster community involvement in the arts through participation in every aspect. The informal atmosphere and hands-on character of the experience allows members of the community to work directly with creative people while gaining confidence in their own abilities.
There is a natural exchange across cultures in this artistic process. Parading their artistic creations in and around the town center before an appreciative audience links the townspeople of Hillsborough to the act of creativity in the most rewarding and public way possible.
Grants and supporters
Funding is provided in part provided by: The Town of Hillsborough Tourism Board and the Orange County Arts Commission.
In addition the Handmade Parade would not be possible without the financial support of community mined businesses and individuals. We acknowledge all these generous supporters at our Supporters page here.
You can help to support the Arts in Hillsborough and make a difference in your community Make a donation today!