Fire-breathing dragon highlights Tacoma light parades. There’s another one this Sunday
Snowmen might have shivered at the sight, but the kids on Tacoma’s Eastside couldn’t get enough of a glowing, fire-breathing dragon Wednesday night.
Children and their parents followed, stared and danced around artist Steve LaBerge’s human-powered creation as it circumnavigated Boze Elementary School on East 65th Street while shooting long, orange flames from its swiveling head.
“I want to go on a ride with it,” exclaimed Kanaya Ballard, 6, before getting distracted by a man wearing an overcoat with multicolored lights. “Oooo ... rainbows.”
The dragon and its entourage of noise makers, musicians and people wearing a variety of lighted costumes were part of a new Tacoma tradition, the Light Parade. The roving events, conceived in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, are now in their third year.
“It’s just wonderful,” Kanaya’s dad, Davieon Ballard, said. “Anything that excites the kids and brings them joy, especially around this time, is wonderful. I absolutely love it.”
Ballard, his wife Deloris Heard, and their three kids including Davieona, 10, and Macarius, 9, live in the neighborhood and happily trailed along with the parade. Other residents, alerted by the commotion, came out on porches and watched through windows while waving and photographing the procession.
The parades — the next one is Sunday at Whitman Elementary on South 39th Street — serve as both a festive community event and a teaser for two winter arts events, “The Midwinter Revels” and Tacoma Light Trail.
As the Tacomarama brass band played Wednesday evening, parade participants walked along in lighted skirts, overcoats, gloves and hats. Even the band’s sousaphone and drums were glowing.
At Boze, Light Trail organizer Rosemary Ponnekanti held a satellight festival featuring live music, a puppet show and light projections. The three light parades — the first was Sunday on the Hilltop — are meant to bring joy and light to quiet parts of the city, far from downtown.
“Just to be equitable, because not everybody can get downtown,” Ponnekanti said.
Mary Lynn, executive director of the Revels, said the Light Parade developed in response to bans on indoor gatherings in 2020.
“We didn’t announce the dates or the times or the places because we were not supposed to gather people together,” Lynn said of the first year. “We thought, ‘We’ll just show up in communities, and people will come to their porches,” which they did. And people were so excited.”
Winter festivities
▪ Light Parade — 6:45-8 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 11 at Whitman Elementary, 1112 South 39th St., Tacoma.
▪ “Midwinter Revels” — The annual stage production from Puget Sound Revels runs Dec. 17-21 at the Rialto Theater. Tickets and information: pugetsoundrevels.org/the-midwinter-revels1.html.
▪ Tacoma Light Trail festival — The third annual event runs Dec. 31-Jan. 19 in downtown Tacoma with over 40 venues hosting light art, including illuminated sculpture, painting and projection. Information: tacomalighttrail.org.
This story was originally published December 8, 2022 at 10:12 AM.
