Art show celebrates 100 years of the Anaheim Fall Festival
The Anaheim Fall Festival and Halloween Parade were two of the reasons local artist Evie Yapelli, known professionally as Show Pigeon, moved to Anaheim.
“The parade is what made me want to become an Anaheim resident,” she said. “I got involved in the parade back when I was renting an apartment in Costa Mesa. My husband and I were starting to think about where we wanted to buy a home in Southern California, and through the parade we fell in love with the community here.”
Anaheim’s Fall Festival was established back in 1923 and marks its 100th year when it returns on Oct. 28, along with the Halloween Parade, which was added to the event in 1924. In honor of the festival’s centennial, the Downtown Anaheim Community Center is presenting an Anaheim Fall Festival Art Show, featuring original works from some of the most popular Anaheim Fall Festival artists.
“We have an exhibit of 13 of the artists who have been volunteering over the past couple of years to bring back the Halloween Parade and Fall Festival,” said curator Kevin Kidney at the show’s opening reception on Aug. 24.
Show Pigeon, who is both an art creator and tattoo artist, created an original pennant for the show, titled “I Love a Parade,” featuring some of the parade’s classic characters, like Andy Anaheim, the city’s mascot dating back to the 1950s.
“I wanted to capture a few of my favorite characters,” she said.
Her vintage-sports-style pennant also features original characters she has created for her own Halloween Parade float, like a cherubic redhead girl and her black cat.
“I have a little cart that rides in the parade, so I wanted my characters in there as well,” said Show Pigeon, who will be producing similar pennants to sell at this year’s Fall Festival.
The Fall Festival is a hometown tradition that, much like Show Pigeon, is thought have been what drew Walt Disney to the city.
Coincidentally, Kidney and his husband, Jody Daily, have worked as Disney art directors for nearly 35 years, designing parades.
“When we moved here to Anaheim, we bought a historic home, and we got really interested in Anaheim history,” said Kidney.
Kidney and Daily found out about the parade in 2012 and began volunteering. Today, Daily serves as president of the Fall Festival.
Other local Anaheim artists in the show include plush artist Shalene Lundgren, who creates plushes using felt under the name Beanie Marie Art. Lundgren created a soft sculpture interpretation of pumpkin man, one of the Anaheim Fall Festival and Halloween Parade’s most recognized characters.
“If you are familiar with the parade, then you will definitely recognize the pumpkin man,” said Lundgren. “He is a character that has been in the parade for many years.”
Lundgren created pumpkin man out of felt and stuffed with polyester fiberfill from her own original pattern.
“I handpainted some things on there too,” said Lundgren, “and he’s got wire inside so you can pose him.”
Pumpkin man is a favorite of Kidney.
“I have a special connection to Beanie Marie’s little pumpkin man plush,” he said. “Pumpkin man has become a standout character here in the parade over the last decade.”
Artist Lauren Kurtz, who works as Coppertop Ink, used the event to imagine a pumpkin woman rather than a man, which she depicted in a digital illustration for the show as visiting the grave of her beloved dog, Lucy.
“I’ve lost some dogs of my own and it’s crushing; they are family,” said Kurtz.
In Kurtz’s illustration, the ghost of Lucy pays a surprise visit.
Kidney said the imagination of local artists like Kurtz, Lundgren and Show Pigeon is what makes the beloved event come alive each year.
“The Fall Festival and Halloween Parade really relies on different artists and creativity of all kinds, just to keep it going and keep it fresh,” said Kidney. “It really is the life blood of the whole event.”
This year’s Fall Festival will take place on Oct. 28 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Center Street in Anaheim. The Halloween Parade will start at 7 p.m. on Oct. 28 starting at City Hall. The art show will be on display in the Downtown Anaheim Community Center from now until Oct. 8.
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