Winston-Salem has seen its share of peace marches, but most of them didn't involve face paint and squeaky red noses.
About 20 people in full clown regalia paraded through downtown yesterday in what organizers called a celebration of "joy and free expression."
"When have you ever seen clowns walk down Main Street?" asked Nathan Mendez, a graduate of UNC School of the Art.
Mendez is the director of Onebody, an arts collective that organized the parade.
Onebody, which has about 30 members, has participated in several community arts events before, but the parade was its first solo venture. Mendez and fellow organizer Drew Madland, a student at UNCSA, got the word out through
Facebook and fliers.
Many of the parade participants came from UNCSA, which provided buses to take the students back to campus.
"It's the second-to-last day of classes, so it's nice to get out," said Natasha Kovacs, a UNCSA student who painted participants' faces.
Madland said that the group chose clowns as a theme because they symbolize play and joy. The parade was also inspired by "clown crawls" through New York subways.
Mendez walked among the onlookers, shaking tambourines and maracas, while a girl in polka-dots did cartwheels down the sidewalk.
There were even superhero clowns -- Superman and Wonder Woman.
The parade started in front of UNCSA and ended at the Stevens Center.
Revelers carried signs with such sayings as "Love thy Clown," "Honk 4 Hugs," and on the more timely side, "Smile BP."
A few people played orange ukuleles.
The merrymakers found captive audiences -- from students at Downtown Middle School to crowds of home-schoolers in town for a conference.
On Fourth Street, the clowns stopped at the tables of outdoor diners to give them high-fives.
Drivers honked as they passed.
The most ostentatious clown stood 12 feet tall -- on stilts -- and wore a yellow ruffled shirt and red-striped pants. Sean Blue, or "Val," performs as half of the Baltimore magic duo Val and Noid -- a play on the phrase "null and void."
Blue, a freshman at UNCSA, learned about the parade on Facebook and decided to take to the streets.
"Winston-Salem needs a greater grass-roots arts base," he said.
Harmony Jones, 5 didn't don a costume, but, she and her sister Diamond, 4, had their faces painted and marched in the parade.
"Clowns are real people," Harmony said.
"They're just dressed up."
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