[6.4] Yup, These Are My Neighbors

Lisa and I were able to experience our first real festival in our Fremont neighborhood on October 31. If you've been following the blog, you've seen pictures of the Troll under the bridge that brings a bit of fame to our little corner of the world. Well, apparently every year on Halloween, or Trolloween as it's called around here, a group of folks have a big event to bring the Troll to life (and no, B, that's not a sexual metaphor). Well we had no idea what to expect, light-hearted party or full-blown voodoo ceremony. As it turned out, it was a bit of both.

Lisa and I headed down there that evening and were surprised that the police had blocked off the street. Apparently this might be more than a few zealots chanting at the Troll. As we neared, we saw a crowd of people, maybe around 500 or so, encircling a stage that was set up in the street, in front of the Troll. About half of the folks there wore some kind of costume, which Lisa and I had forgone. The "show" had already begun. We staked out our spot up on the hill where the Troll makes its home, throwing caution to the wind and counting on one of two things, either a) the Troll was not coming to life, or b) if he did come to life, he was a kind and benevolent Troll.

The show consisted of several warmup acts such as a fire eater, sword swallower, fire twirler, and two really poor singers. Lisa was ready to go, not really being entertained, or more to the point, not having enough alcohol in her system to appreciate the goings on. After the acts finished, we heard loud drums off in the distance--down the street. The crowd around the stage parted and a parade of drummers and dancers emerged, all clad in tight black body suits painted with skeletons. It reminded me a bit of the scene in King Kong where the natives call Kong with their sacrifice of the young blond. This was entertaining, but alas, failed to bring the Troll to life.

After the ceremony, the drummers and dancers led the parade of revelers from the Troll, down 36th street, and into the center of Fremont for more revelry. As we checked out the folks in the parade, I was a bit disappointed by the costumes. The creativity was nowhere near the level that you see in the Halloween parade in the Village in NYC. There were a couple of people that put serious work into their costumes, but they are tough to describe, like the guy who wore a "V for Vendetta" mask with an afro and a smoking jacket. Next year this will take place on Friday night, and we promised ourselves that we would take part in the festivities by dressing up and by having a few drinks before the show.