Procession of the Species: A wild world of music, dance, costumes and creations

By Molly Gilmore | For The Olympian • Published April 26, 2007

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Procession of the Species brings out the animal - or the plant or the planet - in even the most mild-mannered South Sound residents.

Enjoy the show

What: The annual free Procession of the Species celebrates the Earth - and the elements of earth, air, fire and water - with music, dance and floats, but no signs, words or motorized vehicles.

When: 4:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Downtown Olympia. Registration begins at 3:30 p.m. Participants assemble on Legion Way and Cherry Street between Jefferson and Chestnut, and the parade route, which ends at Heritage Park, is on the Arts Walk maps available free at local businesses and The Olympia Center.

Tickets: Participants donate two cans of food to the Thurston County Food Bank. Spectators also are asked to donate and can give their food to the Olympia police officers who distribute sidewalk chalk before the event.

More information: www.procession.org or 360-705-1087

Also: There will be a luminaria procession beginning at 8:30 p.m. Friday in front of Capitol Theater, 206 Fifth Ave. S.E., Olympia.

The annual event - set for Saturday - celebrates Earth Day with music, dance, costumes and marching. During its 13 years, it has included flies, butterflies, penguins, jellyfish, whales, crows, a lot of fish and a giant tree.

This year, among the characters will be a life-size rhinocerous s urrounded by a pack of hyenas.

"It's 12, 13 feet long, 6 feet tall - basically a sort of accurate rhinocerous," said Parker Mac Cready of Olympia who designed the creature. "It has some moving parts.

"It actually rolls on wheels, and the head turns back and forth with the front wheel, which is part of an old bike, and then there are levers off the back wheels that make the legs move in a sort of realistic way. There are a lot of moving parts."

Last year, 1,500 people registered for Procession - many at the last moment. That's down from 3,000 prior to Sept. 11, 2001, said Nicole Mercier, the president of the board of Earthbound Productions, which puts on the event.

Some participants have been doing papier-mache, sewing and practicing dancing and drumming for a month or more to perform in the event. Others will wake up Saturday morning and pull something out of the closet.

"People who have anything they were thinking of wearing should come on down," Mercier said.

When they first participated in Procession, MacCready and his family were the last-minute types, he said. He moved to Olympia in 1993.

"We've been going most years since we've lived here," he said. "The things that we've made have gotten a lot more elaborate. When our older daughter was really little, we'd be in the group with the cardboard butterfly wings, but it's gotten more involved over the years, so it's a major one month building project instead of a one day project."

MacCready and helpers have worked in his home workshop because the rhinocerous required welding. In addition to bicycle parts, the rhino includes a buggy used to tow children. A child can sit inside and steer.

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