Doo Dah Parade

The event has been copied by the Columbus, Ohio, Ocean City, New Jersey, and Kalamazoo, Michigan Doo Dah Parades.

[1] Conceived in 1978[2] by several friends, including Peter Apanel, Ted Wright, Charles "Skip" Finnell, Corky Peterson, and Richard Caputo, sitting in a bar called Chromos in Pasadena, with input from Alice McIntosh of The Red Shoes Dancewear store next door, as an irreverent alternative to the traditional formality of the Rose Parade,[2] which is also held in Pasadena.

Some of the earliest parade participants were Corky Peterson as first Grand Marshall, Queen Dorothy Romani, the official band of the parade, Snotty Scotty & The Hankies, The Red Shoes Dance Team, The Loch Ness Bagpipe Band, the Pasadena Food Co-op Organic Vegetables Marching Band, Mimi Margo-go & the Marquis de Sod, The Wilson Brothers, Zeke The Shiek, The Espresso Bar, The Unknown Shoppers, belly dancer Narayana (who has participated in every Parade), and General Hershy Bar, among many others.

The Doo Dah logo and all of the early parade posters were designed by Spike Loveland, a bartender at the Loch Ness Monster Pub.

In August 2012, the Pasadena Museum of History opened an exhibit entitled, "What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been: 35 Years of the Pasadena Doo Dah Parade", containing donated items and photographs from the past 35 years of the parade and including a recreation of part of the original Chromo's bar.

[citation needed] One of the most popular and longest-running participant groups is the Marching Fidels, a group dressed like Fidel Castro who take siestas along the parade route and conscript bystanders into the Cuban army, dressing them in camouflage and "forcing" them to march in the parade.

In recent years, participants have included groups such as the Fishnet Mafia, the Wilber Hills Country Club, Feature Creatures Haunted Acting Troupe of Central Ohio, Four Men Walking Abreast (four men carrying a pink balloon adorned with a brighter pink spot in the middle), Deri Air, the Ohio Roller Derby, and the Doo Dah Band.

[citation needed] OC's parade is billed as a salute to humor and comedy, featuring impersonators of Groucho Marx, Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Abbott & Costello and many other classic movie stars.

Celebrity comedians and TV stars have served as grand marshal in this parade, including Joan Rivers, Joe Franklin, Larry Storch, Mickey Rooney, Soupy Sales, Bill Dana, Captain Noah and many others.

All parade participants receive a free commemorative T-shirt and hot dog courtesy of sponsor Dietz & Watson.

[citation needed] Other parade regulars include "Trash Buster" (played by chief DooDah organizer Mark Soifer from Ocean City's Community Affairs department), "Underdog Lady" Suzanne Muldowny, the "Wizard of Odd", the Pitman NJ Hobo Band, kids radio host Kathy O'Connell, and hundreds of dogs taking part in the annual Bassett Hound Waddle as part of the weekend's festivities.