Thousands of people, many in costume, will line the streets of Rutland Saturday night for the city’s 55th annual Halloween Parade.
Members of Drum Journeys of Earth, perennial crowd favorites in their skeleton costumes, will lead the parade again, dancing and drumming their way down the street.
Nearly 80 more floats, groups and bands will follow. Parade director April Cioffi, of the Rutland Recreation Department, says the community spirit is awesome. “Just how big and extravagant some of the floats are ... I mean it’s amazing all the volunteer time and energy that goes into some of these floats.”
Cioffi grew up in Rutland and says she’s gone to the parade for years. But this is her first year directing the event and she admits she’s crossing her fingers for good weather. “I’m looking forward to the moment when the parade actually gets moving. I mean there’s all this staging and the stress behind it and making sure everything works out well. But once that parade gets moving and you see the kids’ faces and they’re excited with their bags waiting for candy and just looking at all the characters. I think that’s the most exciting part,” she added smiling.
Saturday evening’s parade begins at 6:30 p.m. and is expected to last about two hours.
