Santa Claus Parade photos
below: What could be more appropriate than a few clowns with shovels to follow the police horses?
below: Crazy wabbits didn’t still in one place long enough to let me focus on them
below: Mrs. Claus
below: And at the very end, the main attraction, jolly old Santa Claus himself
Santa Claus Parade 2018
The 114th annual Santa Claus parade filled the streets with lots of fun and excitement.
Floats, clowns, and hundreds of characters in costumes.
And people, lots of people!
And of course, Santa Claus at the end of the parade sitting in his sleigh with toys and Christmas surprises. The star of the parade, the person everyone came to see.
Fan Expo came to Toronto for a few days this weekend.  If the person beside you on the subway was dressed up in some sort of costume, perhaps they were heading to Fan Expo. Prizes were award to the best costumes and from what I saw when I hung out around the convention centre, the competition was quite steep.
Here are some examples of the people that I saw.
below: Looloo from ‘The Fifth Element’
below: The Littlest Mermaid, Ariel
below: Robin, Boy Wonder
below: The Queen of Hearts
below: You’re never too young to dress up!
below: The Joker and mini Joker with a Harley Quinn or two.
below: A Sailor Moon gets a touch up
below: Batman comes in many shapes and sizes!
below: Anime inspired costumes.
below: Anonymous mask
Walking with the revelers on Church Street on Sunday afternoon as the Pride Parade was winding down.
below: A slow time at the ice cream truck
below: It was the man behind that made me laugh.
below: Matching butterflies.
below: Daddy hunter
below: Another daddy sticker
below: Spock makes an appearance
It’s Pride weekend here in Toronto with its many activities including the usual parades. Yesterday was the Dyke March.
below: As in previous year, the motorcyclists led the parade.
You better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is comin’ to town
… and he arrived on Saturday amidst the gusty winds and light snow.  Winter arrived on the same day!
Before the parade there was the Holly Jolly Fun Race, a 5 km race along the Santa Claus parade route.
#TOsanta | #TOsantaparade
Or rather, pre-Pride parade. The parade route is usually very crowded and this year I decided not walk it. Instead, I mingled with the parade participants who gathered on Bloor Street in preparation for the event. What you’ll find in this blog posts are a lot of pictures of people, people laughing and smiling and enjoying the day. I hope I have captured some of the energy and spirit of the occasion.
below: A temporary rainbow LOVE sign
below: The orange guy from the fruit group!
below: One of the floats parked on Rosedale Valley Road. Toronto in balloons, ready and waiting for the parade to start. The calm before the storm.
below: When I first approached this group, the man in the middle had a rainbow flag in front of him. As I took the picture he flung the flag to his back and hammed it up for the camera. Thanks!
below: These boots are made for walking, but that bike sure looks great!
below: Apparently, wearing large amounts of feathers on your back is quite warm. Not so good on a hot day!
below: The solution – water of course. Â Super soakers and the spraying of water is a big part of the pride parade.
below: The three coloured Transgender Pride flag – the stereotype colours of light blue for baby boys and light pink for baby girls with a white stripe in the middle for those who identify as neither.
below: #ShareLove wash the hashtag used by Telus and the people on their float. I love the glitter and the purple hearts!
below: Puppets from Kids Help Phone Line make an appearance at the parade with a little help from some friends. The one T-shirt reads “Tell us about your #firstpride”
below: Well, what can I say? It’s Pride.
below: Nonchalantly blowing bubbles. Someone looks unimpressed.
below: I managed to find the saddest person on Bloor Street.
below: Thanks to these two women who showed off their T-shirts for the camera. #ProudBecause was Fido’s campaign for Pride. Each person on the team had a T-shirt like this, and each person had filled in the white rectangles with their personal messages.
below: Spectators waiting. One is keeping cool.
below: The Liberals had a large presence, most of them in red T-shirts. They congregated on Asquith Green early on and there were many in the staging area on Bloor Street. As the world knows, Justin Trudeau walked in the parade with Toronto Mayor John Tory and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. As an aside, I may be the only person who didn’t get a photo of Trudeau!
When the parade started, I left Bloor Street, heading south on Ted Rogers Way then back towards the Hayden Street entrance to Bloor subway station. Somewhere along that route (and I can’t remember exactly where) I saw a small group of PC/Tories with their signs walking towards the parade.
below: Tomodachi is Japanese for ‘friends’.
below: The Federation of Canadian Naturists were also walking in the parade.
….. they keep coming back!
 Zombie Walk 2014, Nathan Phillips Square
 
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Shooting the pride parade was a lot different from shooting the dyke march! The pride parade is much bigger and by necessity much more tightly controlled. I was able to walk alongside the women in the dyke march but the streets were barricaded and non-participants kept off the route for the pride parade.
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looking west on Bloor towards Yonge.
I walked the first part of the route, along Bloor Street, just before the parade started. Lots of crowds were behind the metal bars; a few police were watching/ignoring me. When I turned the corner at Yonge St., I realized just how controlled the crowds were! I chose not to continue walking south on Yonge. A policeman opened the barricade enough to let me out. After that I walked amongst the crowds….. and saw nothing of the parade! Too many people! But they were interesting people and I enjoyed walking amongst them. …. until Dundas when there were so many people and no one could move.  That’s was my cue to exit stage right.
So here’s a salute to all those who joined the fun. A little raunchy and a little over the top at times but all good.
Kudos to these two ladies who showed up in banana costumes! I asked them if they were part of a group, but no, they’re just fruity they said. I hope they joined the parade had fun (and didn’t get too hot!… unless they peeled…. )
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timeless
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pink, with smiles, waiting for the parade to begin
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Before the parade started – They were actually posing for someone else… but I suggested that they look a little livelier, wave their hands or something…. thanks for obliging!
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viewable, & captured, from all angles
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boys just wanna have fun
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keeping the sun away. These umbrellas were great – very photogenic!
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big grins! The one in blue was more game than his partner…. you could almost say that one in grey is grimacing more than grinning. Thanks guys!
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He had such a wonderful smile and he seemed so happy that I couldn’t resist taking his picture.
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ninjas, mostly unmasked
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a better view!
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The crowds at Yonge and Wellesley just as the parade reached that part of the route.
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How does one even start to calculate how many people were there?
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A quick shot – he saw my camera, turned and quickly posed, and I got the shot. It wasn’t until I downloaded the photos that I saw the marvellous juxtaposition!
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almost their own little parade!
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stopping the parade to let the College/Carlton streetcar through
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She doesn’t seem to be having fun – standing in the window of Starbucks at College & Yonge.
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I walked the parade route at about the same speed that the parade went. An hour and a half later, I reached Yonge & Dundas where the crowds were so thick no one could move.
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At the corner of Yonge & Dundas – by the time I made it to this intersection, I was beginning to agree with the boy in green!
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posing with the body painters – Body Art by Tania was the booth on Church St., near the start of the parade.
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actoronto – AIDS Committee Toronto
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*****
as I walk Toronto 