QUIET PARADE

October 15, 2022

Artist: Aislinn Thomas

Year 2022 Organized by MSVU Art Gallery

Organized by Aislinn Thomas, in collaboration with MSVU Art Gallery and with support from Eyelevel, QUIET PARADE is a low-stimulation parade and celebration taking place in Kjipuktuk/Halifax as part of Nocturne 2022. As its name suggests, QUIET PARADE will be a parade but also a platform to experience a vibrant, extravagant, sensory-friendly event that embraces access as a shared and interdependent practice. QUIET PARADE seeks to embody a quiet that interrupts the noise of the city, experimenting with new ways of collectively creating and sharing space.

Date: Saturday, October 15 at 2:00pm
Location: Fort Needham Memorial Park – park map with route below
Rain Date: Sunday, October 16 at 2:00pm

While QUIET PARADE centers low-sensory accessibility, all are welcome and it is important that everyone who wishes to participate is able to do so. To help ensure an enjoyable and accessible experience for all parade attendees and participants, organizers have created an Access Guide with information on the many aspects of the parade, event site and access supports and resources available. At the parade, Access Team members will be at a Welcome Table and circulating through the site should attendees need assistance or information at any point during the event. Thank you in advance for helping to make this event accessible. QUIET PARADE takes an experimental approach to collective access and organizers hope that it will be a positive experience for all!

A screenshot from Google Maps of an aerial view of Fort Needham Park in the North end of Kjipuktuk / Halifax. Drawn onto the map is a purple line identifying the proposed parade route. It extends from the accessible entrance at the end of Needham Street in the South (labelled B) to the Halifax Explosion Memorial Bell Tower. Letters D and E identify other entrances into the park from Union Street in the North end of the park. Letter C, in the south, identifies a footpath from Novalea Drive. Please see the legend below for a bit more detail about each entrance.

A = parade route on a flat, paved path
B = accessible parking, accessible washrooms and accessible entrance to the park
C = paved path that goes uphill
D = parking lot and entrance to the park with a paved path that goes uphill
E = paved path and stairs into the park

Please consult the Access Guide for additional details about the park and parade route.

Volunteer Opportunity

A number of the parade artists and performers are seeking volunteers to be involved with their floats in various ways. Volunteers may be asked to attend a short training session before the parade and will receive a $100 honorarium for their participation in the event. If you would like to participate in the parade as a volunteer, please email kelsey.mcLaughlin2@msvu.ca by October 7.

Flag-Making Workshop

MSVU Art Gallery is hosting a free flag-making workshop in conjunction with QUIET PARADE. Materials will be provided for participants to make small flags with words and designs that encourage and celebrate quiet. Workshop participants are invited to make a flag for themselves and one to be used at the parade on October 15. There will be a variety of options for messages, colors, and shapes and attendees are encouraged to be creative with their designs and materials! Visit the workshop program page for more details.

About Aislinn Thomas

Aislinn Thomas (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice includes video, performance, sculpture, installation, and text. Many of her recent projects respond to a disability. She is grateful to work alongside and in the legacy of so many who treat access and survival as spaces for creative acts, experimentation, and pleasure. Aislinn is a white, disabled and chronically ill settler of Ashkenazic and British descent. She lives in Unama’ki, on ancestral and unceded Mi’kmaq territory.

Access Guide

The Access Guide outlines the access needs and supports that have been integrated into QUIET PARADE, such as COVID-19 safety protocol, live visual description, seating options, guidelines for how to reduce fragrance and toxicants, ASL interpretation, artist info and more. Please note that the Access Guide is a living document and will be added to on an ongoing basis – its content will be finalized by October 12.

QUIET PARADE is guided by the understanding that accessibility is contextual, varied, and dynamic. If you have questions or access needs to support your ability to attend the Parade, please don’t hesitate to reach out! QUIET PARADE organizers can be contacted via: