Return of the Lost Souls on Commercial Drive

It was a great Halloween weekend in Vancouver, BC.  Mostly because the Parade of Lost Souls returned to Commercial Drive.  This event was cancelled last year, but once again the streets were filled with elaborate costumes, trancey wall images at the all weather field, and spinning fire abound. 

As the parade gathered strength it looked like a river of shadowy clouds streaming through the changing leaves. The drums were beating and the music was shuffling people past lantern lit houses on the parade route as children squeaked with October glee.

"Now the bands begin to play. Multiple bands: a band of ghosts,
dressed all over in white, clothes and faces both; a band of angels,
white halos hovering above; a band of devils, glowing red horns
sprouting from heads; drums, brass, woodwinds, bells; musical guides,
playing increasingly cheerful melodies and rhythms, beckoning the crowd
onto the street, forming a flowing river, a flowing river of people
travelling, travelling from the field where death is remembered to the
park where life, being alive, is celebrated.

To Grandview Park, then, orange from the multiple flames of many
fire dancers—more than I've ever seen performing together in a
mass display—on raised stages, and the open spaces between, the
entire area of the tennis courts their stage. Here too, are the food
and drink vendors, for after all, living things need sustenance."