The Art Parade in Soho 2007

Despite the somewhat sweltering conditions, my ever-festive daughters and I had a blast today at the Soho Art Parade, laughing and whooping it up at the more than 80 different raucous, sexified, politicized, downright goofy, and, obviously, all quite mobile performance pieces.

Sponsored by Deitch Projects, Paper Magazine and Creative Time, this now-annual extravaganza, running down West Broadway from Prince to Grand Streets, has definitely become a family favorite. We love the art itself—the floats and balloons, the costumes and concepts, the music and chaos and freebies (lots of food this year)—which, though of course varying wildly in creativity and execution, consistently engaged and delighted for the entire half-hour-plus procession.

We love the event's almost flash-mob dynamic: there was virtually no one waiting by the barricades when we arrived at 3:30; there were thousands of revelers when the procession got under way at 4:00; then the whole scene went back to a normal Soho Saturday by about 4:45.

And we love the open-to-all feeling; the welcoming, friendly spirit of the marchers and watchers alike; and the event's nearly non-corporate-ness. Anyway, it was a ton of fun, and here's a bunch more pictures which, if you click, will enlarge...