The Holidazzle Parade and the Macy’s 8th floor thing

No sooner had Thanksgiving passed than Americans began to sharpen their tools for Christmas: to take away skeletons and pumpkins and decorate trees and houses.
In every downtown skyscraper huge Christmas trees were arranged. In the IDS Tower – the tallest building in Minneapolis – concerts were held daily during lunch time.

But the two longest standing traditions are The Holidazzle Parade and the Macy’s 8th floor thing.

Let's start with the second one. Actually nobody knows what to call it. Me either. Anyway it’s great! People all over Minnesota come to see it. And last Saturday, when I stopped by Macy’s, the line for this event (let’s call it exhibition) started on the 4th floor. This year they put on the Nutcracker.

I’m not a child anymore, but even I felt as if I got into a fairy tale. Can you imagine how kids were reacting?

More pictures from the Nutcracker

The other event is Holidazzle parade presented by the top Minneapolis companies. It takes place in downtown and starts right after Thanksgiving. So, if you happened to be in downtown at 6:30 p.m. between Thursday and Sunday, you ought to stay and watch it.

Half an hour before the parade, people begin to occupy skyways, office windows and even sit on sidewalks (in December! What craziness! And after that Minnesotans admire my Russian roots. And I’m not as cold resistant as they are! No way! I would never, never, never sit on a sidewalk in December!)



And these are my favorite pieces of the parade.

The Circus Train:

Aren’t those animals cute?

The Nutcracker:

It appears that the crowd is getting the most fun shouting: ”Spin” to the Nutcracker and screaming delightfully after that. The mice are also cool!

And spooky Сaptain Hook:

And of course the most expected by everyone Santa Claus:

So everybody is happy! People are having fun; stores, restaurants and bars are making money. Win-win situation!

More The Holidazzle Parade pictures

P.S. The post was written in join authorship with Anne Hatling after having borscht, pirogi and a shot of vodka in the company of classmates)))

Pictures of having borscht and pirogi in the company of classmates