CAT SQUARE PARADE - VALE, NORTH CAROLINA Whenever people had asked me if I’d ever been to the Cat Square parade it’d always be followed by a chuckle and knowing look in their eye. They’d tell me about that one time they went and there were elaborate homemade floats on old cars, parade-goers tossing out cans of beer and cigarettes, and lines of horses as far as the eye could see, five for each person there. For the past several years and since I graduated from college, I’ve been wanting to attend this much talked about and surely rowdy time. The Cat Square Christmas parade has taken in place in Vale, North Carolina for the past few decades. Each December, this little census-designated community of Cat Square sees an influx of a couple thousand people turn out to line up along the side of Zur Leonard and Cat Square Road to watch the parade trot by. Each year I’ve been told the number of spectators and participants grow larger. A few high school bands join in, almost every female in Lincoln County it seems is a beauty queen of some sort and is escorted in a convertible. North Carolina is not short at all of celebrations of its culture, but the Cat Square parade seems a little bit more special to me. I know because almost everyone I know in my hometown has been at least one time and they always have a story about it along with a slight shake of the head, smile, and quick look at the ground. The parade is a big part of this area around Christmas and a tradition that’s been going strong for years with few people outside of the area taking notice. It’s uniquely ours. It’s the people of the community that keep all this afloat. The parade’s participants and its visitors are the subject of these pictures. A street preacher with a lazy eye handing out tracts, a man selling new and used knives, teenagers watching from their vehicles and younger volunteers in costume or in floats. Just a few people out of the thousands that caught my eye that day and sometimes let me talk to them a little. I’m anxious for next December to come around or the next time I’ll be able to tell my own story about the parade to someone who has never been.  * * * Aaron Canipe is a State Guide to North Carolina. He was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina and received his BFA in photography from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. Aaron also helps operate Empty Stretch, a DIY-publisher and blog. He’s exhibited work throughout the South and has been published in the Washington Post and the Oxford American’s “Eye on the South” blog. Follow him on Tumblr at mysteriesmanners and see more work on his website, aaroncanipe.com.
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CAT SQUARE PARADE - VALE, NORTH CAROLINA Whenever people had asked me if I’d ever been to the Cat Square parade it’d always be followed by a chuckle and knowing look in their eye. They’d tell me about that one time they went and there were elaborate homemade floats on old cars, parade-goers tossing out cans of beer and cigarettes, and lines of horses as far as the eye could see, five for each person there. For the past several years and since I graduated from college, I’ve been wanting to attend this much talked about and surely rowdy time. The Cat Square Christmas parade has taken in place in Vale, North Carolina for the past few decades. Each December, this little census-designated community of Cat Square sees an influx of a couple thousand people turn out to line up along the side of Zur Leonard and Cat Square Road to watch the parade trot by. Each year I’ve been told the number of spectators and participants grow larger. A few high school bands join in, almost every female in Lincoln County it seems is a beauty queen of some sort and is escorted in a convertible. North Carolina is not short at all of celebrations of its culture, but the Cat Square parade seems a little bit more special to me. I know because almost everyone I know in my hometown has been at least one time and they always have a story about it along with a slight shake of the head, smile, and quick look at the ground. The parade is a big part of this area around Christmas and a tradition that’s been going strong for years with few people outside of the area taking notice. It’s uniquely ours. It’s the people of the community that keep all this afloat. The parade’s participants and its visitors are the subject of these pictures. A street preacher with a lazy eye handing out tracts, a man selling new and used knives, teenagers watching from their vehicles and younger volunteers in costume or in floats. Just a few people out of the thousands that caught my eye that day and sometimes let me talk to them a little. I’m anxious for next December to come around or the next time I’ll be able to tell my own story about the parade to someone who has never been.  * * * Aaron Canipe is a State Guide to North Carolina. He was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina and received his BFA in photography from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. Aaron also helps operate Empty Stretch, a DIY-publisher and blog. He’s exhibited work throughout the South and has been published in the Washington Post and the Oxford American’s “Eye on the South” blog. Follow him on Tumblr at mysteriesmanners and see more work on his website, aaroncanipe.com.
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CAT SQUARE PARADE - VALE, NORTH CAROLINA Whenever people had asked me if I’d ever been to the Cat Square parade it’d always be followed by a chuckle and knowing look in their eye. They’d tell me about that one time they went and there were elaborate homemade floats on old cars, parade-goers tossing out cans of beer and cigarettes, and lines of horses as far as the eye could see, five for each person there. For the past several years and since I graduated from college, I’ve been wanting to attend this much talked about and surely rowdy time. The Cat Square Christmas parade has taken in place in Vale, North Carolina for the past few decades. Each December, this little census-designated community of Cat Square sees an influx of a couple thousand people turn out to line up along the side of Zur Leonard and Cat Square Road to watch the parade trot by. Each year I’ve been told the number of spectators and participants grow larger. A few high school bands join in, almost every female in Lincoln County it seems is a beauty queen of some sort and is escorted in a convertible. North Carolina is not short at all of celebrations of its culture, but the Cat Square parade seems a little bit more special to me. I know because almost everyone I know in my hometown has been at least one time and they always have a story about it along with a slight shake of the head, smile, and quick look at the ground. The parade is a big part of this area around Christmas and a tradition that’s been going strong for years with few people outside of the area taking notice. It’s uniquely ours. It’s the people of the community that keep all this afloat. The parade’s participants and its visitors are the subject of these pictures. A street preacher with a lazy eye handing out tracts, a man selling new and used knives, teenagers watching from their vehicles and younger volunteers in costume or in floats. Just a few people out of the thousands that caught my eye that day and sometimes let me talk to them a little. I’m anxious for next December to come around or the next time I’ll be able to tell my own story about the parade to someone who has never been.  * * * Aaron Canipe is a State Guide to North Carolina. He was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina and received his BFA in photography from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. Aaron also helps operate Empty Stretch, a DIY-publisher and blog. He’s exhibited work throughout the South and has been published in the Washington Post and the Oxford American’s “Eye on the South” blog. Follow him on Tumblr at mysteriesmanners and see more work on his website, aaroncanipe.com.
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CAT SQUARE PARADE - VALE, NORTH CAROLINA Whenever people had asked me if I’d ever been to the Cat Square parade it’d always be followed by a chuckle and knowing look in their eye. They’d tell me about that one time they went and there were elaborate homemade floats on old cars, parade-goers tossing out cans of beer and cigarettes, and lines of horses as far as the eye could see, five for each person there. For the past several years and since I graduated from college, I’ve been wanting to attend this much talked about and surely rowdy time. The Cat Square Christmas parade has taken in place in Vale, North Carolina for the past few decades. Each December, this little census-designated community of Cat Square sees an influx of a couple thousand people turn out to line up along the side of Zur Leonard and Cat Square Road to watch the parade trot by. Each year I’ve been told the number of spectators and participants grow larger. A few high school bands join in, almost every female in Lincoln County it seems is a beauty queen of some sort and is escorted in a convertible. North Carolina is not short at all of celebrations of its culture, but the Cat Square parade seems a little bit more special to me. I know because almost everyone I know in my hometown has been at least one time and they always have a story about it along with a slight shake of the head, smile, and quick look at the ground. The parade is a big part of this area around Christmas and a tradition that’s been going strong for years with few people outside of the area taking notice. It’s uniquely ours. It’s the people of the community that keep all this afloat. The parade’s participants and its visitors are the subject of these pictures. A street preacher with a lazy eye handing out tracts, a man selling new and used knives, teenagers watching from their vehicles and younger volunteers in costume or in floats. Just a few people out of the thousands that caught my eye that day and sometimes let me talk to them a little. I’m anxious for next December to come around or the next time I’ll be able to tell my own story about the parade to someone who has never been.  * * * Aaron Canipe is a State Guide to North Carolina. He was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina and received his BFA in photography from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. Aaron also helps operate Empty Stretch, a DIY-publisher and blog. He’s exhibited work throughout the South and has been published in the Washington Post and the Oxford American’s “Eye on the South” blog. Follow him on Tumblr at mysteriesmanners and see more work on his website, aaroncanipe.com.
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CAT SQUARE PARADE - VALE, NORTH CAROLINA Whenever people had asked me if I’d ever been to the Cat Square parade it’d always be followed by a chuckle and knowing look in their eye. They’d tell me about that one time they went and there were elaborate homemade floats on old cars, parade-goers tossing out cans of beer and cigarettes, and lines of horses as far as the eye could see, five for each person there. For the past several years and since I graduated from college, I’ve been wanting to attend this much talked about and surely rowdy time. The Cat Square Christmas parade has taken in place in Vale, North Carolina for the past few decades. Each December, this little census-designated community of Cat Square sees an influx of a couple thousand people turn out to line up along the side of Zur Leonard and Cat Square Road to watch the parade trot by. Each year I’ve been told the number of spectators and participants grow larger. A few high school bands join in, almost every female in Lincoln County it seems is a beauty queen of some sort and is escorted in a convertible. North Carolina is not short at all of celebrations of its culture, but the Cat Square parade seems a little bit more special to me. I know because almost everyone I know in my hometown has been at least one time and they always have a story about it along with a slight shake of the head, smile, and quick look at the ground. The parade is a big part of this area around Christmas and a tradition that’s been going strong for years with few people outside of the area taking notice. It’s uniquely ours. It’s the people of the community that keep all this afloat. The parade’s participants and its visitors are the subject of these pictures. A street preacher with a lazy eye handing out tracts, a man selling new and used knives, teenagers watching from their vehicles and younger volunteers in costume or in floats. Just a few people out of the thousands that caught my eye that day and sometimes let me talk to them a little. I’m anxious for next December to come around or the next time I’ll be able to tell my own story about the parade to someone who has never been.  * * * Aaron Canipe is a State Guide to North Carolina. He was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina and received his BFA in photography from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. Aaron also helps operate Empty Stretch, a DIY-publisher and blog. He’s exhibited work throughout the South and has been published in the Washington Post and the Oxford American’s “Eye on the South” blog. Follow him on Tumblr at mysteriesmanners and see more work on his website, aaroncanipe.com.
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CAT SQUARE PARADE - VALE, NORTH CAROLINA Whenever people had asked me if I’d ever been to the Cat Square parade it’d always be followed by a chuckle and knowing look in their eye. They’d tell me about that one time they went and there were elaborate homemade floats on old cars, parade-goers tossing out cans of beer and cigarettes, and lines of horses as far as the eye could see, five for each person there. For the past several years and since I graduated from college, I’ve been wanting to attend this much talked about and surely rowdy time. The Cat Square Christmas parade has taken in place in Vale, North Carolina for the past few decades. Each December, this little census-designated community of Cat Square sees an influx of a couple thousand people turn out to line up along the side of Zur Leonard and Cat Square Road to watch the parade trot by. Each year I’ve been told the number of spectators and participants grow larger. A few high school bands join in, almost every female in Lincoln County it seems is a beauty queen of some sort and is escorted in a convertible. North Carolina is not short at all of celebrations of its culture, but the Cat Square parade seems a little bit more special to me. I know because almost everyone I know in my hometown has been at least one time and they always have a story about it along with a slight shake of the head, smile, and quick look at the ground. The parade is a big part of this area around Christmas and a tradition that’s been going strong for years with few people outside of the area taking notice. It’s uniquely ours. It’s the people of the community that keep all this afloat. The parade’s participants and its visitors are the subject of these pictures. A street preacher with a lazy eye handing out tracts, a man selling new and used knives, teenagers watching from their vehicles and younger volunteers in costume or in floats. Just a few people out of the thousands that caught my eye that day and sometimes let me talk to them a little. I’m anxious for next December to come around or the next time I’ll be able to tell my own story about the parade to someone who has never been.  * * * Aaron Canipe is a State Guide to North Carolina. He was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina and received his BFA in photography from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. Aaron also helps operate Empty Stretch, a DIY-publisher and blog. He’s exhibited work throughout the South and has been published in the Washington Post and the Oxford American’s “Eye on the South” blog. Follow him on Tumblr at mysteriesmanners and see more work on his website, aaroncanipe.com.
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CAT SQUARE PARADE - VALE, NORTH CAROLINA Whenever people had asked me if I’d ever been to the Cat Square parade it’d always be followed by a chuckle and knowing look in their eye. They’d tell me about that one time they went and there were elaborate homemade floats on old cars, parade-goers tossing out cans of beer and cigarettes, and lines of horses as far as the eye could see, five for each person there. For the past several years and since I graduated from college, I’ve been wanting to attend this much talked about and surely rowdy time. The Cat Square Christmas parade has taken in place in Vale, North Carolina for the past few decades. Each December, this little census-designated community of Cat Square sees an influx of a couple thousand people turn out to line up along the side of Zur Leonard and Cat Square Road to watch the parade trot by. Each year I’ve been told the number of spectators and participants grow larger. A few high school bands join in, almost every female in Lincoln County it seems is a beauty queen of some sort and is escorted in a convertible. North Carolina is not short at all of celebrations of its culture, but the Cat Square parade seems a little bit more special to me. I know because almost everyone I know in my hometown has been at least one time and they always have a story about it along with a slight shake of the head, smile, and quick look at the ground. The parade is a big part of this area around Christmas and a tradition that’s been going strong for years with few people outside of the area taking notice. It’s uniquely ours. It’s the people of the community that keep all this afloat. The parade’s participants and its visitors are the subject of these pictures. A street preacher with a lazy eye handing out tracts, a man selling new and used knives, teenagers watching from their vehicles and younger volunteers in costume or in floats. Just a few people out of the thousands that caught my eye that day and sometimes let me talk to them a little. I’m anxious for next December to come around or the next time I’ll be able to tell my own story about the parade to someone who has never been.  * * * Aaron Canipe is a State Guide to North Carolina. He was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina and received his BFA in photography from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. Aaron also helps operate Empty Stretch, a DIY-publisher and blog. He’s exhibited work throughout the South and has been published in the Washington Post and the Oxford American’s “Eye on the South” blog. Follow him on Tumblr at mysteriesmanners and see more work on his website, aaroncanipe.com.
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CAT SQUARE PARADE - VALE, NORTH CAROLINA Whenever people had asked me if I’d ever been to the Cat Square parade it’d always be followed by a chuckle and knowing look in their eye. They’d tell me about that one time they went and there were elaborate homemade floats on old cars, parade-goers tossing out cans of beer and cigarettes, and lines of horses as far as the eye could see, five for each person there. For the past several years and since I graduated from college, I’ve been wanting to attend this much talked about and surely rowdy time. The Cat Square Christmas parade has taken in place in Vale, North Carolina for the past few decades. Each December, this little census-designated community of Cat Square sees an influx of a couple thousand people turn out to line up along the side of Zur Leonard and Cat Square Road to watch the parade trot by. Each year I’ve been told the number of spectators and participants grow larger. A few high school bands join in, almost every female in Lincoln County it seems is a beauty queen of some sort and is escorted in a convertible. North Carolina is not short at all of celebrations of its culture, but the Cat Square parade seems a little bit more special to me. I know because almost everyone I know in my hometown has been at least one time and they always have a story about it along with a slight shake of the head, smile, and quick look at the ground. The parade is a big part of this area around Christmas and a tradition that’s been going strong for years with few people outside of the area taking notice. It’s uniquely ours. It’s the people of the community that keep all this afloat. The parade’s participants and its visitors are the subject of these pictures. A street preacher with a lazy eye handing out tracts, a man selling new and used knives, teenagers watching from their vehicles and younger volunteers in costume or in floats. Just a few people out of the thousands that caught my eye that day and sometimes let me talk to them a little. I’m anxious for next December to come around or the next time I’ll be able to tell my own story about the parade to someone who has never been.  * * * Aaron Canipe is a State Guide to North Carolina. He was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina and received his BFA in photography from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. Aaron also helps operate Empty Stretch, a DIY-publisher and blog. He’s exhibited work throughout the South and has been published in the Washington Post and the Oxford American’s “Eye on the South” blog. Follow him on Tumblr at mysteriesmanners and see more work on his website, aaroncanipe.com.
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CAT SQUARE PARADE - VALE, NORTH CAROLINA Whenever people had asked me if I’d ever been to the Cat Square parade it’d always be followed by a chuckle and knowing look in their eye. They’d tell me about that one time they went and there were elaborate homemade floats on old cars, parade-goers tossing out cans of beer and cigarettes, and lines of horses as far as the eye could see, five for each person there. For the past several years and since I graduated from college, I’ve been wanting to attend this much talked about and surely rowdy time. The Cat Square Christmas parade has taken in place in Vale, North Carolina for the past few decades. Each December, this little census-designated community of Cat Square sees an influx of a couple thousand people turn out to line up along the side of Zur Leonard and Cat Square Road to watch the parade trot by. Each year I’ve been told the number of spectators and participants grow larger. A few high school bands join in, almost every female in Lincoln County it seems is a beauty queen of some sort and is escorted in a convertible. North Carolina is not short at all of celebrations of its culture, but the Cat Square parade seems a little bit more special to me. I know because almost everyone I know in my hometown has been at least one time and they always have a story about it along with a slight shake of the head, smile, and quick look at the ground. The parade is a big part of this area around Christmas and a tradition that’s been going strong for years with few people outside of the area taking notice. It’s uniquely ours. It’s the people of the community that keep all this afloat. The parade’s participants and its visitors are the subject of these pictures. A street preacher with a lazy eye handing out tracts, a man selling new and used knives, teenagers watching from their vehicles and younger volunteers in costume or in floats. Just a few people out of the thousands that caught my eye that day and sometimes let me talk to them a little. I’m anxious for next December to come around or the next time I’ll be able to tell my own story about the parade to someone who has never been.  * * * Aaron Canipe is a State Guide to North Carolina. He was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina and received his BFA in photography from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. Aaron also helps operate Empty Stretch, a DIY-publisher and blog. He’s exhibited work throughout the South and has been published in the Washington Post and the Oxford American’s “Eye on the South” blog. Follow him on Tumblr at mysteriesmanners and see more work on his website, aaroncanipe.com.
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CAT SQUARE PARADE - VALE, NORTH CAROLINA

Whenever people had asked me if I’d ever been to the Cat Square parade it’d always be followed by a chuckle and knowing look in their eye. They’d tell me about that one time they went and there were elaborate homemade floats on old cars, parade-goers tossing out cans of beer and cigarettes, and lines of horses as far as the eye could see, five for each person there. For the past several years and since I graduated from college, I’ve been wanting to attend this much talked about and surely rowdy time.

The Cat Square Christmas parade has taken in place in Vale, North Carolina for the past few decades. Each December, this little census-designated community of Cat Square sees an influx of a couple thousand people turn out to line up along the side of Zur Leonard and Cat Square Road to watch the parade trot by. Each year I’ve been told the number of spectators and participants grow larger. A few high school bands join in, almost every female in Lincoln County it seems is a beauty queen of some sort and is escorted in a convertible. North Carolina is not short at all of celebrations of its culture, but the Cat Square parade seems a little bit more special to me. I know because almost everyone I know in my hometown has been at least one time and they always have a story about it along with a slight shake of the head, smile, and quick look at the ground.

The parade is a big part of this area around Christmas and a tradition that’s been going strong for years with few people outside of the area taking notice. It’s uniquely ours. It’s the people of the community that keep all this afloat. The parade’s participants and its visitors are the subject of these pictures. A street preacher with a lazy eye handing out tracts, a man selling new and used knives, teenagers watching from their vehicles and younger volunteers in costume or in floats. Just a few people out of the thousands that caught my eye that day and sometimes let me talk to them a little. I’m anxious for next December to come around or the next time I’ll be able to tell my own story about the parade to someone who has never been. 

* * *

Aaron Canipe is a State Guide to North Carolina. He was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina and received his BFA in photography from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. Aaron also helps operate Empty Stretch, a DIY-publisher and blog. He’s exhibited work throughout the South and has been published in the Washington Post and the Oxford American’s “Eye on the South” blog. Follow him on Tumblr at mysteriesmanners and see more work on his website, aaroncanipe.com.

SIKH PARADE - STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA “I just got back from the Sikh Parade,” I tell my friends. “The what?” they say. “The Sikh Parade. Starts near the beginning of San Joaquin Street, snakes through Downtown and across Weber, then back up California Street. Ya know?” “Never heard of it.” I’ve attended the Sikh Parade for three years in a row now, and I maintain that it is one of the most enjoyable and liberating events that Stockton, California, has to offer its residents. Fresh, delicious Indian food is available on every street corner. Cultural music spills out of float speakers as they roll by. A wash of vibrant, colorful fabric streams through the street — collecting the bright spring sunlight and reflecting it against shop windows and the dashboards of parked cars. In 2012, the April parade preluded the October celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Stockton Gurdwara on South Grant Street. This temple is the first permanent Sikh settlement in the United States, and Sikhs from all over the California Central Valley come to visit and participate in the parade’s progression through the city. The Sikh parade happens each year at the tail end of April.  * * * Brandon Getty is a State Guide to California, specifically the Central Valley region and his home city of Stockton. Follow on Tumblr at Maps to Stockton, on blogspot at Shooting Daggers, or on his Carbonmade Portfolio.
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SIKH PARADE - STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA “I just got back from the Sikh Parade,” I tell my friends. “The what?” they say. “The Sikh Parade. Starts near the beginning of San Joaquin Street, snakes through Downtown and across Weber, then back up California Street. Ya know?” “Never heard of it.” I’ve attended the Sikh Parade for three years in a row now, and I maintain that it is one of the most enjoyable and liberating events that Stockton, California, has to offer its residents. Fresh, delicious Indian food is available on every street corner. Cultural music spills out of float speakers as they roll by. A wash of vibrant, colorful fabric streams through the street — collecting the bright spring sunlight and reflecting it against shop windows and the dashboards of parked cars. In 2012, the April parade preluded the October celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Stockton Gurdwara on South Grant Street. This temple is the first permanent Sikh settlement in the United States, and Sikhs from all over the California Central Valley come to visit and participate in the parade’s progression through the city. The Sikh parade happens each year at the tail end of April.  * * * Brandon Getty is a State Guide to California, specifically the Central Valley region and his home city of Stockton. Follow on Tumblr at Maps to Stockton, on blogspot at Shooting Daggers, or on his Carbonmade Portfolio.
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SIKH PARADE - STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA “I just got back from the Sikh Parade,” I tell my friends. “The what?” they say. “The Sikh Parade. Starts near the beginning of San Joaquin Street, snakes through Downtown and across Weber, then back up California Street. Ya know?” “Never heard of it.” I’ve attended the Sikh Parade for three years in a row now, and I maintain that it is one of the most enjoyable and liberating events that Stockton, California, has to offer its residents. Fresh, delicious Indian food is available on every street corner. Cultural music spills out of float speakers as they roll by. A wash of vibrant, colorful fabric streams through the street — collecting the bright spring sunlight and reflecting it against shop windows and the dashboards of parked cars. In 2012, the April parade preluded the October celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Stockton Gurdwara on South Grant Street. This temple is the first permanent Sikh settlement in the United States, and Sikhs from all over the California Central Valley come to visit and participate in the parade’s progression through the city. The Sikh parade happens each year at the tail end of April.  * * * Brandon Getty is a State Guide to California, specifically the Central Valley region and his home city of Stockton. Follow on Tumblr at Maps to Stockton, on blogspot at Shooting Daggers, or on his Carbonmade Portfolio.
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SIKH PARADE - STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA “I just got back from the Sikh Parade,” I tell my friends. “The what?” they say. “The Sikh Parade. Starts near the beginning of San Joaquin Street, snakes through Downtown and across Weber, then back up California Street. Ya know?” “Never heard of it.” I’ve attended the Sikh Parade for three years in a row now, and I maintain that it is one of the most enjoyable and liberating events that Stockton, California, has to offer its residents. Fresh, delicious Indian food is available on every street corner. Cultural music spills out of float speakers as they roll by. A wash of vibrant, colorful fabric streams through the street — collecting the bright spring sunlight and reflecting it against shop windows and the dashboards of parked cars. In 2012, the April parade preluded the October celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Stockton Gurdwara on South Grant Street. This temple is the first permanent Sikh settlement in the United States, and Sikhs from all over the California Central Valley come to visit and participate in the parade’s progression through the city. The Sikh parade happens each year at the tail end of April.  * * * Brandon Getty is a State Guide to California, specifically the Central Valley region and his home city of Stockton. Follow on Tumblr at Maps to Stockton, on blogspot at Shooting Daggers, or on his Carbonmade Portfolio.
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SIKH PARADE - STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA “I just got back from the Sikh Parade,” I tell my friends. “The what?” they say. “The Sikh Parade. Starts near the beginning of San Joaquin Street, snakes through Downtown and across Weber, then back up California Street. Ya know?” “Never heard of it.” I’ve attended the Sikh Parade for three years in a row now, and I maintain that it is one of the most enjoyable and liberating events that Stockton, California, has to offer its residents. Fresh, delicious Indian food is available on every street corner. Cultural music spills out of float speakers as they roll by. A wash of vibrant, colorful fabric streams through the street — collecting the bright spring sunlight and reflecting it against shop windows and the dashboards of parked cars. In 2012, the April parade preluded the October celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Stockton Gurdwara on South Grant Street. This temple is the first permanent Sikh settlement in the United States, and Sikhs from all over the California Central Valley come to visit and participate in the parade’s progression through the city. The Sikh parade happens each year at the tail end of April.  * * * Brandon Getty is a State Guide to California, specifically the Central Valley region and his home city of Stockton. Follow on Tumblr at Maps to Stockton, on blogspot at Shooting Daggers, or on his Carbonmade Portfolio.
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SIKH PARADE - STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA “I just got back from the Sikh Parade,” I tell my friends. “The what?” they say. “The Sikh Parade. Starts near the beginning of San Joaquin Street, snakes through Downtown and across Weber, then back up California Street. Ya know?” “Never heard of it.” I’ve attended the Sikh Parade for three years in a row now, and I maintain that it is one of the most enjoyable and liberating events that Stockton, California, has to offer its residents. Fresh, delicious Indian food is available on every street corner. Cultural music spills out of float speakers as they roll by. A wash of vibrant, colorful fabric streams through the street — collecting the bright spring sunlight and reflecting it against shop windows and the dashboards of parked cars. In 2012, the April parade preluded the October celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Stockton Gurdwara on South Grant Street. This temple is the first permanent Sikh settlement in the United States, and Sikhs from all over the California Central Valley come to visit and participate in the parade’s progression through the city. The Sikh parade happens each year at the tail end of April.  * * * Brandon Getty is a State Guide to California, specifically the Central Valley region and his home city of Stockton. Follow on Tumblr at Maps to Stockton, on blogspot at Shooting Daggers, or on his Carbonmade Portfolio.
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SIKH PARADE - STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA “I just got back from the Sikh Parade,” I tell my friends. “The what?” they say. “The Sikh Parade. Starts near the beginning of San Joaquin Street, snakes through Downtown and across Weber, then back up California Street. Ya know?” “Never heard of it.” I’ve attended the Sikh Parade for three years in a row now, and I maintain that it is one of the most enjoyable and liberating events that Stockton, California, has to offer its residents. Fresh, delicious Indian food is available on every street corner. Cultural music spills out of float speakers as they roll by. A wash of vibrant, colorful fabric streams through the street — collecting the bright spring sunlight and reflecting it against shop windows and the dashboards of parked cars. In 2012, the April parade preluded the October celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Stockton Gurdwara on South Grant Street. This temple is the first permanent Sikh settlement in the United States, and Sikhs from all over the California Central Valley come to visit and participate in the parade’s progression through the city. The Sikh parade happens each year at the tail end of April.  * * * Brandon Getty is a State Guide to California, specifically the Central Valley region and his home city of Stockton. Follow on Tumblr at Maps to Stockton, on blogspot at Shooting Daggers, or on his Carbonmade Portfolio.
Zoom

SIKH PARADE - STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA

“I just got back from the Sikh Parade,” I tell my friends. “The what?” they say. “The Sikh Parade. Starts near the beginning of San Joaquin Street, snakes through Downtown and across Weber, then back up California Street. Ya know?”

“Never heard of it.”

I’ve attended the Sikh Parade for three years in a row now, and I maintain that it is one of the most enjoyable and liberating events that Stockton, California, has to offer its residents.

Fresh, delicious Indian food is available on every street corner. Cultural music spills out of float speakers as they roll by. A wash of vibrant, colorful fabric streams through the street — collecting the bright spring sunlight and reflecting it against shop windows and the dashboards of parked cars.

In 2012, the April parade preluded the October celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Stockton Gurdwara on South Grant Street. This temple is the first permanent Sikh settlement in the United States, and Sikhs from all over the California Central Valley come to visit and participate in the parade’s progression through the city.

The Sikh parade happens each year at the tail end of April. 

* * *

Brandon Getty is a State Guide to California, specifically the Central Valley region and his home city of Stockton. Follow on Tumblr at Maps to Stockton, on blogspot at Shooting Daggers, or on his Carbonmade Portfolio.

MUMMER’S DAY PARADE Among traditional holiday observances is the mummers’ parade on New Year’s Day in Philadelphia. This pageant resembles in spirit and form the old English Christmas season festivities, when a Lord of Misrule was chosen, and elaborately costumed revelers danced and paraded. But its immediate ancestor is the old German tradition of ‘bell-snickeling.’ As early as 1800 scattered groups of mummers from South Philadelphia paraded the streets and rang bells to receive the award of cakes and candies if their identity was not guessed. The first formal parade was held on January 1, 1901, to celebrate the turn of the century; it was so enthusiastically received that it has since been held annually. — Pennsylvania, A Guide to the Keystone State (WPA, 1940) * * * Philadelphia-based photographer Stephen Dyer is our Guide to Pennsylvania. Follow his great photos of the Keystone State and other places on Tumblr at thebrokentooth.tumblr.com.
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MUMMER’S DAY PARADE Among traditional holiday observances is the mummers’ parade on New Year’s Day in Philadelphia. This pageant resembles in spirit and form the old English Christmas season festivities, when a Lord of Misrule was chosen, and elaborately costumed revelers danced and paraded. But its immediate ancestor is the old German tradition of ‘bell-snickeling.’ As early as 1800 scattered groups of mummers from South Philadelphia paraded the streets and rang bells to receive the award of cakes and candies if their identity was not guessed. The first formal parade was held on January 1, 1901, to celebrate the turn of the century; it was so enthusiastically received that it has since been held annually. — Pennsylvania, A Guide to the Keystone State (WPA, 1940) * * * Philadelphia-based photographer Stephen Dyer is our Guide to Pennsylvania. Follow his great photos of the Keystone State and other places on Tumblr at thebrokentooth.tumblr.com.
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MUMMER’S DAY PARADE Among traditional holiday observances is the mummers’ parade on New Year’s Day in Philadelphia. This pageant resembles in spirit and form the old English Christmas season festivities, when a Lord of Misrule was chosen, and elaborately costumed revelers danced and paraded. But its immediate ancestor is the old German tradition of ‘bell-snickeling.’ As early as 1800 scattered groups of mummers from South Philadelphia paraded the streets and rang bells to receive the award of cakes and candies if their identity was not guessed. The first formal parade was held on January 1, 1901, to celebrate the turn of the century; it was so enthusiastically received that it has since been held annually. — Pennsylvania, A Guide to the Keystone State (WPA, 1940) * * * Philadelphia-based photographer Stephen Dyer is our Guide to Pennsylvania. Follow his great photos of the Keystone State and other places on Tumblr at thebrokentooth.tumblr.com.
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MUMMER’S DAY PARADE Among traditional holiday observances is the mummers’ parade on New Year’s Day in Philadelphia. This pageant resembles in spirit and form the old English Christmas season festivities, when a Lord of Misrule was chosen, and elaborately costumed revelers danced and paraded. But its immediate ancestor is the old German tradition of ‘bell-snickeling.’ As early as 1800 scattered groups of mummers from South Philadelphia paraded the streets and rang bells to receive the award of cakes and candies if their identity was not guessed. The first formal parade was held on January 1, 1901, to celebrate the turn of the century; it was so enthusiastically received that it has since been held annually. — Pennsylvania, A Guide to the Keystone State (WPA, 1940) * * * Philadelphia-based photographer Stephen Dyer is our Guide to Pennsylvania. Follow his great photos of the Keystone State and other places on Tumblr at thebrokentooth.tumblr.com.
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MUMMER’S DAY PARADE

Among traditional holiday observances is the mummers’ parade on New Year’s Day in Philadelphia. This pageant resembles in spirit and form the old English Christmas season festivities, when a Lord of Misrule was chosen, and elaborately costumed revelers danced and paraded. But its immediate ancestor is the old German tradition of ‘bell-snickeling.’ As early as 1800 scattered groups of mummers from South Philadelphia paraded the streets and rang bells to receive the award of cakes and candies if their identity was not guessed. The first formal parade was held on January 1, 1901, to celebrate the turn of the century; it was so enthusiastically received that it has since been held annually.

— Pennsylvania, A Guide to the Keystone State (WPA, 1940)

* * *

Philadelphia-based photographer Stephen Dyer is our Guide to Pennsylvania. Follow his great photos of the Keystone State and other places on Tumblr at thebrokentooth.tumblr.com.