QUIET PARADE is one of five can’t-miss projects at this year’s Nocturne, a site-specific art festival that has things popping up all over Halifax from Oct. 13 to 15. Read more about the other Nocturne projects we’re most excited about here.
“[The province] has an initiative so that Nova Scotia will be accessible by 2030. And while I appreciate the intention, I don’t think full accessibility is a destination we will ever arrive at. And I think anyone who has access needs or any kind of impairment understands how their experience is in flux—and how their experience changes with different environments, and how we often have access conflicts with each other,” says artist Aislinn Thomas, organizer of the Nocturne project QUIET PARADE, (which was created in partnership with the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery and with support from Eyelevel). “I’m really excited about art as a space for creativity, for access—which, frankly, disabled people, people with impairments, have to draw on creativity in their day-to-day lives to meet their needs: It kind of comes with the territory.”
A participatory event held Saturday, Oct. 15 at 2pm at Fort Needham Memorial Park (with a rain date for Sunday, Oct. 16 at 2pm), QUIET PARADE isn’t just a poetic turn of phrase: It’s an embodiment of the creativity Thomas champions, a low-stimulation parade and celebration. Comprised of over 20 floats featuring everything from drag to highly-tactile fibre works, the event will also act as a revision of the collective image of what celebrating can look like.
An extensive access guide aims to deliver the ever-expanding vision of inclusivity Thomas is talking about, with ideas on how to participate and directions to the free earplugs on offer. (“You can help make QUIET PARADE low-stimulation by whispering or speaking softly if you need to talk to someone, moving more slowly, being mindful of other people’s personal space, and not using lights or noisemakers,” the guide says.)
“I had this dream of creating something that was public and large and celebratory—and also accessible for me and folks like me,” adds Thomas, who thrives in low-stimulation environments and identifies as disabled and chronically ill. “And I really love parades.”
This article appears in Oct 1 – Nov 6, 2022.