My Favorite Minneapolis Weekend: May Day

The May Day Parade is one of those things that makes me fall in love with my City over and over again each spring. After winter has done a number on my soul, I wake up giddy and full of hope on the first Sunday morning in May. And it's never just the parade. It's the brunches, BBQ's and garden parties that accompany all the parade festivities from dawn to dusk. And I can't lie...purchasing our house because of it's prime location one block off the parade route was no accident.

This morning I received multiple texts from out-of-state friends wishing me a "happy may day parade", which reconfirms its notoriety outside of Minnesota. My cousin in Brooklyn even texted me last month "What's that funky parade in your neighborhood called again?" when he was out with Minneapolis clients.

May Day weekend, it just doesn't get any better, anywhere else in the world. Yeah, I said it. And equally as wonderful this year: the biggest May Day march I have ever attended in Minneapolis on Saturday. First, we'll check out the parade.

I'm fairly certain that Minneapolis has the highest percentage of stilt-walking youth in the Nation. Let me know if you think someone else has got us beat. Yeah, that's what I thought.

And your city definitely can't contend with our volumes of tall bikes and crusty-punk pedal power, so don't even try.

Every free spirit, puppeteer, activist, artist, kid, eclectic and neighbor is parading or watching.

Love you May Day! Just 364 days til we reunite. See you May Day 2011 with a baby strapped to my chest.

So travel back one day with me, and check out the May Day March for Immigration Reform. It was such a crucial time to hit the streets, in light of the recent passing of Arizona SB 1070. The march started at Martin Luther King Park in South Minneapolis, and extended 30 blocks to the Minneapolis Convention Center, which played host to the MN Republican Convention. This GOP gathering endorsed Tom Emmer as their choice for governor. Tom Emmer has publicly praised SB 1070 as being a "wonderful first step" in immigration reform. Well GOP folks, hope you hear the loud protest of thousands of hardworking Minnesotans walking in solidarity with our hardworking immigrant neighbors. We certainly outnumber your tea party friends.