Talk about party animals: Thousands gather for Olympia’s annual celebration of the natural world.

Thousands of people lined the streets of downtown Olympia on Saturday afternoon to watch and cheer for the annual Procession of the Species.

The colorful pageant celebrating the natural world with costumes, animal creations and music shimmied, strutted and twirled its way along 14 city blocks. There were larger-than-life peacocks, lions, jellyfish and scores of other critters.

“There’s a sense of community, artistic expression and it’s just plain fun for everybody,” said Kazuko Rosen, a dancer with Samba Olywa.

She and others in the troupe wore hoop skirts trimmed with ribbons and scarves and an African scene to represent a bamboo forest. They were followed by tigers in the Procession.

John Lyons Beck wore a large owl puppet that was used in the Luminary Procession on Friday night. He said the art piece was a collaborative effort with two friends. One created the luminary head, another batiked the wings, and he rigged the armature with bamboo, inner tubes and a backpack.

He said the Procession is difficult to describe, but it’s far more than just people in animal costumes.

“It’s something that you’re physically part of both in being in the Procession and as the audience,” Beck said. “It’s something unique and precious every year.”

Shawn and Billy Christensen, and their daughters Sadie and Ruby, arrived about 45 minutes early to score seats close to the beginning of the route, at Jefferson Street and Legion Way. The Procession wound its way along several streets and ended at Heritage Park.

This story was originally published April 29, 2017 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Talk about party animals: Thousands gather for Olympia’s annual celebration of the natural world.."