Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
This year marked the fifth time my wife and I attended the Indy 500 Festival Parade in downtown Indianapolis. It’s an annual date-day tradition for us — partly to see the floats and high school marching bands, partly for the famous names (even if the rest of the audience loves them more than we do), and partly because I love the sight of a bustling downtown Indianapolis (which needs to happen every single weekend ever).
The next six entries (to be posted over the next few days as quickly as time and attention span permit) represent a fraction of the pics my wife and I snapped.
Each year our 500 Festival Parade pics always include a few shots of the Nationalities Council of Indiana, a local nonprofit that makes a strong showing every time with a scintillating array of members showcasing their heritage in costumes and clothing from dozens of nations. Their official Facebook page sums up their mission statement:
The Nationalities Council is a non-profit, all-volunteer educational foundation comprised of more than 50 ethnic or national affinity organizations plus other groups, corporations and individuals interested in celebrating Indy’s diversity. For more than 30 years, the Council has worked to increase the visibility of and participation by ethnic groups in the community life of central Indiana. The Council’s website includes links to hundreds of multicultural and international organizations in Indianapolis and Indiana, a comprehensive calendar of international events, and links to thousands more pages of information, including the only comprehensive directory of ethnic restaurants, markets and festivals in the Indianapolis area. The Ethnic Hoosier, a monthly newsletter, is sent free of charge to an electronic mailing list. Since 1976, the Nationalities Council’s annual International Festival, held each fall at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, has been a popular “Celebration of Diversity” that introduces thousands of schoolchildren and adults to the wide range of Indy’s culinary, historical, social, ethnic and linguistic heritage.
This year, rather than narrow down their parade appearance to one or two nominal shots, I’ve decided turn the spotlight in their direction for an entire entry and post every usable shot we have, because that’s how impressive I thought they were. Further information regarding what they do is available at either of those last two links.
(As always, photos are clickable for enlargement and resolution and such.)
…
…also, they brought dragons.
To be continued! Links to other chapters in this annual MCC miniseries are listed below. Thanks for stopping by, and please feel free to mention these to millions of your closest friends:
Part 1: Drivers!
Part 2: Marching Bands!
Part 3: This Year’s Guests
Part 4: Floats and Balloons
Part 6: Star Wars and Potpourri
(For fans of Indy 500 Festival Parade history, you can also click the following links for the MCC photo collections for 2012, 2013, and 2014. Enjoy!)
