Parade? Not so much. What is today one of the largest outdoor celebrations in Massachusetts and recently named Best Festival on Cape Cod 2013, attracts around 90,000 revelers, bears no resemblance to the first Carnival celebration some thirty-five years ago.
“No floats. No banners. We did not even have costumes,” says one of the parade founders, Herbie Hintzer. “I wore a Ranch t-shirt, the inn where I was working at the time. With about five other inn owners we decided to do something to spark life into the slowest week of the summer.”
The Town opinion on ‘Let’s have a parade!’ was quite another thing. “We were told in no uncertain terms that locals did not like the idea of a gay parade, they did not want it to happen, and we should be prepared for some rock throwing. They even told us the corner where that would happen.” Undeterred, the fearless few made their way to the center of town. As they approached ‘the’ corner they held their breath expecting the worst.