I was at the Howl Festival/Wigstock in 2005. This is the Howl Festival parade that started at Third Avenue and St. Marks Place and winded through the East Village to Tompkins Square Park where the festivities began. I took this photo of the Japanese New York marching group called Hanagasa Kai as they paraded through the streets playing music and making people dance. The New York Hanagasa Kai always liven up any parade in New York.
NEW YORK HANAGASA KAI (Flower Hat Dance Group), is a mixed group of all ages and nationalities, that gets together to parade at festivals and other events. Anyone can join this group. It is an opportunity for Japanese and Americans to mutually enjoy the Flower Hat Dance from Yamagata Prefecture in northern Japan. Our most popular event is the flower hat dance parade, which we have performed at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s “SAKURA MATSURI”.