TRASH PARADE 2026

The second annual Trash Parade is a creative community event aimed at repurposing recyclable materials and other waste products into puppets, costumes, masks, and banners to march in a procession in downtown Schenectady.

This is a community effort and will be open to all to create and march! Craft your own costumes, puppets, flags and banners out of waste materials, based on the theme "Pollinators".

Trash Parade takes place during Art Night Schenectady, Friday May 15th. Starting and ending at Jay Square, the procession will march down Jay Street (exact route TBD). This year will feature more live music and activities before and after the procession. Show off what you have created in our show-and-tell!

Some imagery that could be used with the theme of "POLLINATORS":
-Bees and other pollinating insects (butterflies, moths, flies, wasps, beetles)
-Birds like Hummingbirds
-Mammals (bats, also some rodents, possums, and lemurs)
-Flowers and other plants
-Food we eat that relies on pollinators
-Threats to pollinators
-Trash and waste in general
-Or however you interpret theme

Video from last year: https://youtu.be/cwvQf7B3j6g
Examples from other events like this:
https://drive.google.com/.../1Lf7Y2hEthbGKLoi8Jyd0gq1wKwb...
This event will be updated with examples as people start to work on their projects.