Praising the Competition
Will it be the end of the world? I don’t think so. And truth be told, Bill Bleakley has created something very, very special for downtown Oklahoma City. The Ghouls Gone Wild parade started with a conversation between Burns Hargis when he was chairman of the Greater OKC Chamber and Bleakley, publisher of The Oklahoma Gazette. Hargis is up in Stillwater now, doing the presidential thing at Oklahoma State University. Bleakley has taken the parade to a status reserved for top events like Opening Night and the Spring Festival of the Arts.
In just three short years it has become a huge event, drawing crowds reported at more than 50,000, and producing memorable images like these taken by Oklahoman photographer Bryan Terry:
Ghouls Gone Wild - a downtown tradition after only three years.
Others have helped make this event great as well – notably the incredibly loyal Flaming Lips (yeah, Wayne might be a bit foul mouthed and odd at times, but he’s OUR foul-mouthed oddball. And let’s face it, he’s hard not to love).
To see more shots of the parade by our award-winning photographer, visit Bryan’s blog here.
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Comments
It is really amazing that this parade has done so well in such a conservative city. Every year I attend I am suprised by how many freaks live in OKC. It’s great. Wayne Coyne and the Lips deserve most of the credit for the parade’s success. Wayne’s participation (and the prospect of 1,000 flaming skeletons) is what got me to this event the first year, and it is what brings me back every year.
Hmm, I’m not sure what conservatism has to do with it, but I love that this has been successful too. 
I’m about as conservative politically as they come, but I love the fact that OKC can have such a wide variety of events and experiences for everyone. I can go to an art-type movie in the afternoon at the art museum and catch a Thunder game in the evening (by the way, Go Thunder!!!…hopefully the Kings are the first victim tonight in our surprising breakout season, just get rid of that horrible “Thunder UP” chant and ad campaign, blech). I love Ballet OKC’s earlier promotion this week and all the interesting people I can meet down in the Paseo, but I can also appreciate all the churches in our city. Maybe I am an odd person (my wife would wholeheartedly say yes), but I never have thought that the art scene crowd and the fact OKC may be politically conservative, that there needs to be any animosity between the two. I love that we are becoming a “Renaissance City” and I can find more and more things to show visitors and brag about for our city. It is an exciting time to be from OKC. Very cool.
Man, Steve, you are the best! Really. You are the reason I starting paying for the paper again. This article is a great example of your integrity and recognition of something great even if it means “praising the competition”. Went to the Ghouls Gone Wild thing for the first time last Saturday and have to agree. This is big time! Such a cool and fun parade. A complete winner.
Thanks Plainsman. I really appreciate your comments, and it gives me hope that maybe I’m on the right track.
Do other cities do this? I’ve just never heard of city Halloween parades before, at least on this scale. I think its just brilliant, lots of fun, and a coup of an event for downtown OKC. Whats also fun is driving around downtown at about 11:00 p.m. after the parade and just observe what random costumes come walking by going back to their cars, etc.