float (parade)

Information about float (parade)

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George W. Bush gets a noseful of Ahmadinejad's "Armpit of Evil" (Word play: Achsel des Bösen instead of Achse des Bösen) on this float in the Düsseldorf carnival parade
A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Key West Fantasy Fest parade, and the Tournament of Roses Parade. For the latter event, floats are decorated entirely in flowers.
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Genghis Khan by Wick CC on the West Country Carnival curcuit, Somerset, England
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Carnival float in the Blacks and Whites Carnival in Pasto, Colombia


Parade floats were first introduced in the middle ages when churches used pageant wagons as movable scenery for passion plays. Artisan Guilds were responsible for building the pageant wagons for their specified craft. The wagons were pulled through out the town, most notably during Corpus Christi in which up to 48 wagons were used, one for each play in the Corpus Christi cycle.

The name is derived from the first floats, which were decorated barges that were towed along canals with ropes held by parade marchers on the shore.

Floats in popular culture

The climax of the movie Animal House features the protagonists from the title fraternity surreptitiously launching their own float into a parade featuring legitimate entries from many of their rivals. The illicit float, in the form of a giant decorated cake adorned with the words "Eat Me" later splits open to reveal the parade-destroying "Deathmobile" inside. Ferris Bueller's Day Off also has an important scene on a float, where the truant title character, rather than keeping a low profile while skipping school, lip-syncs "Danke Schoen" and "Twist and Shout" atop a float in the Von Steuben Day Parade through Chicago.
Vehicles are non-living means of transport. They are most often man-made (e.g. bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, and aircraft), although some other means of transport which are not made by man can also be called vehicles; examples include icebergs and floating tree trunks.
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A parade is an organized procession of people along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by floats or sometimes large lighter-than-air balloons with complex shapes. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind.
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Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (informally known as the "Macy's Day Parade") is an annual parade presented by Macy's Department store. The three-hour event is held in New York City starting at 9:00 a.m. EST on Thanksgiving.
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City of Key West
Aerial photo of Key West, looking north. March 2001.

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Nickname: The Conch Republic, Margaritaville, Southernmost City In The Continental United States
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Fantasy Fest is a street party held annually on the last weekend of October in Key West, Florida.

History

First held in 1979, what began as primarily a gay party staged to add pep to the quiet days of October soon acquired a life of its own.
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The Tournament of Roses Parade was established, and first held, on January 1,1890, in Pasadena, California, eight miles (13 km) northeast of Downtown Los Angeles.

Rooted in tradition, this parade is broadcast on multiple television networks, watched by upwards of one
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Blessed Sacrament, or the Body and Blood of Christ, is a devotional name used in the Roman Catholic Church, Old Catholic and Anglican Churches, to refer to the Host and wine after they have been consecrated in the sacrament of the Eucharist.
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B.A.R.G.E., the Big August Rec.Gambling Excursion, is a yearly convention held in Las Vegas during the first weekend of August (other than in 2006 when it was moved to later in the month of August due to a conflict with the World Series of Poker as some attendees participate in
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fraternity" and "sorority" (from the Latin words frater and soror, meaning "brother" and "sister" respectively) may be used to describe many social and charitable organizations, for
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Key Addressed Crypto Encapsulation, or CAKE is a network protocol that lives on top of the Internet Protocol, SMTP, or any of a wide variety of other protocols. The basic idea of the protocol is to use public key identifiers as the base addressing scheme for the protocol.
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Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a 1986 comedy film written and directed by John Hughes. It stars Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones and Jennifer Grey.
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Danke Schoen is a 1962 song first recorded by Bert Kaempfert, however it gained its fame in 1963 when American singer Wayne Newton recorded his version of it. The music was composed by Bert Kaempfert, with the lyrics written by Kurt Schwaback and Milt Gabler.
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B-side(s) "Spanish Twist"
Released June 16, 1962
Format 7" single
Recorded New York, 1962
Genre Soul/rock
Length 2:27
Label Wand 653
Writer(s) Phil Medley
Bert Russell
Producer(s) Bert Russell
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Von Steuben Day is held traditionally on a weekend in mid-September (von Steuben was born September 17th), celebrating Baron Friedrich von Steuben, who arrived in the United States as a volunteer offering his services to General George Washington, and is generally
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City of Chicago

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Nickname: "The Windy City", "The Second City", "ChiTown", "Hog Butcher for the World", "City of the Big Shoulders", "The City That Works"
Motto: "Urbs in Horto
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