May was a busy month for me. The very next weekend after the Miss Spring Jamboree Pinup Pageant, I found myself leading a small group of ladies up and down Fremont Street for the very first Las Vegas Showgirl Parade!
I originally had planned for the first parade to be in May of 2020, but right after I announced it in early March... well...
I was inspired to create the Showgirl Parade after watching videos of New Orleans and then the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. Seeing celebratory traditions in those cities that bring the community together and immerse themselves in culture, art, and their respective city, made my heart yearn for those "hometown" feelings. Yes, Las Vegas has "Parades", but they seem to lack any genuine love for the the city. Not to mention you never hear about them happening! The Las Vegas government has gone corporate. As I mentioned, I liked the idea of the Coney Island Mermaid Parade where folks got creative with their costumes and artistic expressions! I knew Las Vegas needed something like that so I wracked my brain trying to think of a mythical creature to celebrate. I tried to think of any desert crypids that are celebrated. I considered aliens (Area 51) for a very brief moment, before I remembered aliens don't interest me enough. Then it happened... the mythical creature has been right here all along... a deity that IS Las Vegas... The Iconic Las Vegas Showgirl!
It was perfect! The Showgirl would allow folks to create their own visions. They could be as creative as they wanted! Costumes could be as simple or elaborate as they wanted! It could really become a thing! Knowing that not everyone would want to be a showgirl, I expanded the theme of the parade to include anything or anyone iconic to Las Vegas. This could be anything to do with gambling, casinos of the past, celebrities that helped solidify Las Vegas as the entertainment capital of the world!
Of course I was thinking of a grandeur future and knew this was going to have to start off small and quiet. (Las Vegas is notorious for their red tape on nearly EVERYTHING!) First I had to pick a date. I wanted this to be a yearly celebration so I had to think of when would be the best time of year -- you know, before it got too hot. I looked up when Las Vegas was "born" and saw it was May 15th, 1905. This is perfect! It's right before it gets extremely hot out - although it's already getting closer to 100 degrees out. I decided then it was always going to fall on the weekend closest to May 15th, but should it be a Saturday or a Sunday? I soon realized that the Helldorado Days Parade, the city's official birthday celebration parade is held the Saturday closest. I didn't want to compete for interfere with that, for obvious reasons, so it was decided then and there, the closest Sunday to the 15th!
As much as my head was filling with dreams of what the parade could be, I had to wrangle in those thoughts and realize this is the first year and you are doing this on the low down... then I started to panic! What if no one wants to join me? I told myself I would be happy if I could get at least 4 of my friends to join me. I wanted a group just big enough to not look like we were walking Fremont to busk. Before I could worry about it too much, May quickly approached.
Now that I went into a bit of history behind the creation of the parade, let's talk about the day of.
In order to beat the heat, I wanted to start the parade at 10:30am and be done by 12pm. I know that is an early call to be in full costume and makeup, but I thought it was worth it! I was so excited to have 13 other girls join me! We were a small parade, but we all came out in celebration of Las Vegas and the Showgirl! I was so happy to see these wonderful women join me as I lead us up and down Fremont Street, looping at the Plaza! There was a little bit of a rough start getting to Fremont, but once we did it was a delightful experience! At the end I did a very brief "awards ceremony", crowning the Queen of Showgirls, the King of Parades, and dedicating the Ace Award to the memory of the Showgirls that are no longer with us!
I am so happy to get this first parade in the history books! I can only hope that next year will be even better. If I just double the attendance from this year I will be happy!
I always thought it was a shame that Las Vegas still used the showgirl as its mascot, but no longer has a single "showgirl show" on any of its stages. Yes, I know there are showgirls IN other shows, but those aren't shows dedicated to the talented and statuesque dancers that Vegas is known for.
(photos by Chase Stevens of the Las Vegas Review Journal)
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