‘It means everything to us’: Carnival parade shows out for the first time since pandemic

PROVINCETOWN — The Carnival parade hit Commercial Street at 3 p.m. Thursday with a complete array of floats, costumes and onlookers. Through the revving sound of police escort ATVs, float DJs and booming speakers, revelers bedazzled with jewels, covered in body paint and decked out in wigs, feathers and masks danced their way through the streets.

The parade was part of Carnival Week in Provincetown, an annual celebration of LGBTQIA+ life. It ran this year from Aug. 13-20, offering 17 events through the week plus the annual Carnival parade. The parade took place for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Eager onlookers lined either side of Commercial Street standing and sitting on both cliff barricades and in lawn chairs Thursday afternoon in anticipation of the parade’s start. Bike carts pedaled through the street filled with parade-goers, while bubble machines blew into the street and kids ran around waving Pride flags.

Transgender artist Justin Vivian Bond is Carnival Grand Marsha(l)

Along with the traditional line of floats, hundreds of onlookers and plenty of volunteers hailing from near and far, the parade boasted a special grand marshal — or “Grand Marsha,” as transgender activist Justin Vivian Bond requested to be called.

Every Carnival parade, organizers choose a grand marshal who represents the energy of the event, said Stephan Hengst, executive director of the Provincetown Business Guild. The Guild organizes Carnival each year, and selected Bond to play the role of grand Marsha(l) this year.

“In addition to celebrating the Carnival parade and the history of the grand marshal, they [Bond] are excited to also continue to carry on the legacy of Marsha P. Johnson, who was a Black transgender writer who is credited with starting the Stonewall riots in New York City in 1969,” Hengst said.

“Not only are we looking forward to having someone like Justin Vivian Bond as our grand Marsha, but we are also harkening back to our queer past and celebrating icons that are so important that we really feel everyone should continue to be aware of, to know their legacy, and to truly understand our queer history,” he said.

“I like to think it's difficult to move forward with a movement without being able to truly understand and appreciate our past."

While this was Hengst’s first Carnival experience, there were plenty of veteran Carnival participants present for Thursday’s festivities. Andy Fagan and Joe Hawk, who are from Waverly, New York, have been coming to Carnival for about 10 years and were dressed as “Mother Nature” on Thursday.

Decade of anniversaries with a parade

This year was a special year, however, because it marked their 10-year wedding anniversary. While they’ve been together for almost 20 years, they were married in Provincetown and try to visit during Carnival each year.

“Everything. It means everything to us,” Fagan said of being able to visit Provincetown and be a part of the festivities through the years. “And just to be free, the freedom to be ourselves and for everyone to be themselves, we appreciate it so much.”

Hawk said Provincetown, especially during Carnival, is somewhere he and Fagan can feel community support.

"It’s fun, it’s good food and relaxing, it’s entertainment, it’s everything," he said. "And it’s one of the only places on the planet where we could hold hands if we wanted to."

Two sasquatches decked out in rainbow shorts walked in the parade as well, promoting a queer music event, Washashore Festival, scheduled for Provincetown in early October. The sasquatches had different realms of Carnival experience — one of them, Erik Borg, has been coming for about 10 years, while the other, Lew Gallo, was experiencing his first Carnival.

“I’ve experienced it from all angles,” Borg laughed. He lives in Provincetown and is one of the partners in the Provincetown Brewing Co. on Bradford Street. He and Gallo walked with a banner in the parade and handed out flyers prior to its start.

80 volunteers come from near and far

With so many floats, dancers and flags, it was essential that the Business Guild have enough volunteers for not just the parade, but all of the events that happened during the week. And that was the job of Carnival Volunteer Coordinator Elyce Rivera, who has been coming to Provincetown for about 12 years.

It’s become a family tradition for Rivera, as she began bringing her kids when they were little and has continued since. She always felt a strong connection to the town, and said over the last four or five years before the pandemic, she’s been volunteering more and more for the parade.

More: Rachel Schwolow always returned to Provincetown: foundation will honor drowning victim

This was her first year as coordinator, but Rivera spent 20 years in the New York City Police Department and now is the director of security for the Jewish Community Center of Manhattan in her retirement.

“In my role, I'm really excited to see the volunteers come back to me and tell me how much fun they had, and how they just met a whole bunch of people,” she said in anticipation of the event.

“A lot of people, you know, believe it or not, will travel alone or be here for the week by themselves and not know a single person," Rivera said. "And volunteering connects them to a whole group of other people that they otherwise would have never met, and we wind up socializing in years to come."

More dancing: Drag ballet, tap and body rhythm: Provincetown Dance Festival expands to two weekends outdoors

Carnival attracted about 80 registered volunteers to assist in the week’s 17 events and parade. Eight different Pride flags flew over Pride Street, some of which include the lesbian flag, the transgender flag, the bisexual flag, the bear flag, the leather flag and the inclusive pride flag, Hengst said.

“Not only are we celebrating our community overall," he said, "but we're truly celebrating the full spectrum of the queer community and bringing everyone together in Provincetown, a place that we all know and we all love.

“That's what Carnival is all about, bringing people together and having a great time.”

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Provincetown's Carnival Week celebration returns with fanfare.