After the success of Occupy Halloween last year, The People's Puppets and Occupy Democracy are joining forces once again for Occupy Halloween 2: A Nightmare on Wall St.
There will be appearances by The Tax Dodgers, Bain, and some new and spectacular giant puppets. Stay tuned for more information on what we're planning, and how to get involved.
If you're in DC, Adbusters has put a call for a Halloween Party.
The idea, said Ken Srdjak, a volunteer and veteran of Bread and Puppet, the storied political theater group in Vermont, is to “tell a simple narrative of what we’re up against” – a “moving insurrection” using giant puppets and costumed characters. Mr. Srdjak, was working on a giant robot puppet with Arthur Polendo. Their creation had the head of the stock exchange building, a slot machine for a body – with coin slots labeled “change” and “hope” – and tank-tread legs. Mr. Polendo planned to operate the robot’s 20-foot-long vacuum-cleaner arm, an outsize appendage that signifies the huge, sucking reach of Wall Street. All this, they hoped, would show another side of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
"We are talking about austerity and cutting the deficit but when the banks are in trouble we came up with 700 Billion to bail them out but none of that is being done for teachers and firefighters. Everyone is suffering and there seems to be no money to help them."
The annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, long known for its funky costumes and elaborate puppets and displays, got occupied last night....One float was a large slot machine. Written across the top of it was “New York Slot Exchange” and “We Bet Your Life!” Attached to the side of the float was a large attachment resembling a vacuum cleaner, with fake money being drawn into it. Written on it was “This Sucks.”
The Halloween parade is the largest celebration of its kind in the world. Some activists and artists in the parade formed a group they call "Occupy Halloween," to bring messages from the ongoing economic Occupy Wall Street protests into the West Village event... But as in their home base near Wall Street, corporate greed and the growing disparity between rich and poor became the overarching theme.
Wall Street demonstrators joined the 39th annual Village Halloween Parade wearing costumes that reflected their protest against economic inequality. Zombies and pink slips were some of their other themes. They carried signs that said "stop the vampire economy" and "foreclosure is scary."
"Part of social change is going to where the people are at," added Occupy Wall Street protester Mike Sapo, a carpenter from Baltimore.
While strongmen like the Hulk might pick up a car and toss it a hundred feet, Captain Generica can only pick up a thin sheet of cardboard the size of a car, and then put it back down.
To symbolize the struggle between liberty and economic oppression, the group was also building a giant bull, which will battle the 12-foot "Lady Liberty" puppet..."Puppets are a good way to communicate a message without taking yourself so seriously that no one wants to listen," Joe Thierren said.
Unemployed Man said superhero outfits are a helpful way to communicate, too. "It's easier to start a conversation with humor," he said. "Everyone wants to know what you're fighting for or against."
Hundreds of protesters from Occupy Wall Street joined New York City’s enormous Village Halloween parade Monday night in a demonstration called “Occupy Halloween.” It was a spectacular scene, with occupiers marching in the parade to promote their message on everything from small-scale signs to massive puppets. Slender, single-word vertical banners communicated key values of the movement: Transparency. Horizontalism. Emancipation. Autonomy. Inclusiveness.