Oct. 16--A small girl in a red shirt danced to drummers with the Jabberwocky Marionettes as they paraded around the feet of Sue, the T. rex, on Thursday at the Field Museum. Wearing all black, the professional puppet theater troupe animated a 6-foot-tall version of Sue, a larger-than-life neon snake and a child-size surfing mummy who zoomed a little too close to a group of kids, making them squeal.
The Chicago Cultural Mile Association, a nonprofit that promotes institutions and businesses on a stretch of Michigan Avenue, is hosting the Halloween Gathering festival and parade Oct. 24. The demonstration at the Field Museum, one of the participating organizations, was just a tiny preview of the parade that will bring together the cultural communities of Chicago. On the day of the event, there will be 75 people holding puppets, drumming or carrying lanterns, representing the various collections at the Field Museum.
"The cultural community is part of what we use as a city to market the city, it's that important and great of a force," said Sharene Shariatzadeh, executive director of the Chicago Cultural Mile. "But there isn't one moment that the cultural community comes together to celebrate what they are. That's what we want to do and that's part of what we believe will make this an iconic event."
The Halloween Gathering will begin at 2 p.m. with the Halloween Gathering festival, which will have crafts, performances and a children's costume parade. The parade will begin at 6 p.m. showcasing a variety of organizations and led by the Creative Spirit Fellows, including rapper Lupe Fiasco, "Hoop Dreams" director Steve James and Chicago Children's Choir President Josephine Lee.
The Creative Spirit Fellows are 11 people the Chicago Cultural Mile has chosen to "illuminate Chicago's cultural scene in an important way," Shariatzadeh said.
The Field Museum's parade unit is just one of 80 that will travel north on Columbus Drive between Balbo Avenue and Monroe Street. The parade also will include performance artists such as poi spinners, the Chicago Children's Choir and marching bands.
"I really think it's a great place for artists to come out in a way that takes the fright out of Halloween and brings in the curiosity and wonder of the time of year in a energetic and celebratory way," said Lolly Extract, artistic director of Jabberwocky Marionettes.
Mark Kelly, artistic director for the Halloween Gathering, said he hopes the event will be "out of the box" and speak to the "power of culture and creativity." The vision is to highlight that power in the city, to recognize Halloween as an "artist's holiday" and to bring esteemed and aspiring artists together.
"The incredible authenticity and the arc of creative forms coming to life, I would argue there's a deeper meaning here than just to bring delight to everyone's eyes," Kelly said. "We're going to bring delight, we're going to wow people. There's going to be sonic moments, there's going to be performance, there's going to be visual delight of all kinds but there's a deeper purpose here."
For more information, visit www.chicagoculturalmile.org/gathering/.
gwong@chicagotribune.com
