Kicking Horse Culture’s annual MasqueParade is just two weeks away and planning is well on its way ahead of the fantastic winter festival.
Set to take place on Saturday, Feb. 15, Kicking Horse Culture has assembled a team made up of people from almost every facet of Golden’s community. According to Bill Usher, director of Kicking Horse Culture, this year will continue the tradition of going big for a winter celebration that will entertain everyone.
“We’ve got a whole wack of creative types that have come together for a creative planning group,” said Usher. “There’s key people that have been there for years, and then we have groups like the logistics crew and stage crew and giant puppets that are coming together as well.”
While each year the festival continues to grow and evolve, certain elements have become unwavering staples of the MasqueParade. For example, the opening and closing ceremonies remain the same and the wolf call will be returning for another year.
READ MORE: MasqueParade planning underway
According to Usher, the festival tells one long story, with different ‘beads’ as he calls them being strung together to form an overarching theme. The beads are created by different groups throughout the community, with Usher weaving them together for the final product.
“Children love a story that’s repetitive with those things and each year we have beads that are created around the themes,” said Usher. “Somehow we pull it all together so it looks pretty and then I write the story to connect the beads until we get down to the finale.”
While Kicking Horse Culture won’t be offering their usual seminar on mask making this year, residents are still encouraged to make their own costumes and masks. Usher believes that over the years they’ve done a good enough job passing along the knowledge on how to make these masks that people should fare just fine at home if they want to make their own.
With the MasqueParade entering its 14th year, it’s become a well-known event in the community, with many familiar faces showing up year-after-year to help out.
“It’s been 14 years that we’ve been coming together to create this pageant, we had kids now who started participating when they were four or five, who are now 20 and still helping out,” said Usher. “They all have those memories.”
The parade was originally created as a way to get the community together and unite them for a night of celebration.
“The parade was created in a time before television, in a time where neighbours came together to create their own entertainment, especially in small towns,” said Usher.
For those still looking to get involved, Usher says they’re still looking for people with tool belts and a skill set to help them build some of the larger infrastructure for the parade.
Anyone looking to get involved are invited to email info@kickinghorseculture.ca to get involved.
