Marginal Arts Festival Parade: An Inside Look

Marginal Arts Festival's official orchestra.

Botticelli Baby arrives with her cupcake ...

... and the blue thing followed.

Marginal Arts Festival  Founder Brian Counihan.

Modern transportation.

Cat Woman ... of a sort.

The beautiful Viking Charisse Surayya.

Community High leads the parade.

Pepper-spray cop John Pike and his Chicken.

Artist Eric Fitzpatrick and Pearlie Mae Fu.

Kara, Evan and Oscar Smith photographing my granddaughter, Madeline, riding with Pearlie Mae.

Bugle boy.

The queen and his wife.

Viking Jeffrey Rigdon and his pretty daughter Kimberly.

Katherine Devine finishes off her mermaid.

Kimberly Rigdon toots her horn.

Crochet girls.

Grandbuddy Madeline and her buddy Pearl Fu (that'd be Pearlie Mae to some of us).

Jeff Pulls Madeline and Pearl.

Robin  Barnhill and a head celebrate "Occupy."

Vikings, Queens and Princesses.

We all smelled a rat.

Hitching a ride on mama.

Tracy Wassmer and Alisa Downey look fetching.

An irresistible young dancer.

Today's Marginal Arts Festival Mardi Gras Parade in downtown was an exercise in artistic chaos and anarchy and it was lovely.

The parade had about 30 entries, mostly creatively decorated people and occasionally a large animal, political poster, Queen of Hearts and her Princess and even Vikings. It was the kind of event that has marked MEF as one of Roanoke's premier goofball events, full of art, fun and laughter.

The little girl having so much fun in the photos with Pearl Fu is my grandbuddy Madeline. We both had a grand time.