Fremont Solstice Parade 2024
This year, Haus Anima had a flocking good time at the Fremont Solstice Parade with our biggest project yet — “Beaky Bird.” Beaky is a giant puppet of a West African Crested Crane, and creating it was a huge team effort. With a 26-foot wingspan, Beaky Bird soared through the streets of Seattle, bringing smiles, laughter, and flow to the parade.
It all started when Skipper, Kalesta, and Ribbit took a special class at the Fremont Powerhouse, taught by the talented Brian Krooser.
We learned how to make giant puppets out of papier-mâché.
It was a long process that took several days, but we worked hard, layer by layer, to make Beaky Bird’s head
Despite its huge size, the head was surprisingly light!
Once the base was ready, Kalesta brought the bird to life by painting it in Haus Animas signature colors (Black and White)
and attaching a 4-foot-tall faux pampas grass crest to the top of its head.
Beaky Bird was already looking magnificent, but we weren’t finished yet.
Next, we needed to make Beaky Bird’s body. This was a big challenge because the bird’s wingspan was 26 feet long! Our entire living room was covered with fabric as we worked to sew together its massive body. It felt like it took 1000 pins to get everything in place. After hours and hours of sewing, we finally finished the giant bird’s body. With Seth and Ribbit handling the hardware, Beaky Bird was ready to fly in the parade!
But Beaky Bird wasn’t going to be alone. We thought it would be fun to create a whole flock of birds to march with it. So, we invited our friends to help. We were thrilled when 16 of our friends joined us, each making their own papier-mâché bird heads. Together, we became a flock of birds, ready to bring some fun and excitement to the streets of Seattle.
This was our second year in the Solstice Parade, and it was even better than before. Seeing more friends join us in creating art made the experience so much more special. Working together and watching our ideas come to life was the best part. There’s nothing quite like seeing people’s faces light up when a giant, 26-foot bird and its flock glide past them!
By the end of the parade, we were already thinking about what we could create for next year. There’s so much joy in making art for the community, and we’re excited to do it all again in 2025. We can’t wait to dream up our next big creation and share it with everyone!
