ORLANDO, Fla. >> The Main Street Electrical Parade at Walt Disney World will soon come to an end. The last glowing procession down Main Street in the Magic Kingdom will be Oct. 9.
Disney says the parade will next travel cross-country to Disneyland in California for a limited engagement beginning early next year.
The Electrical Parade made its debut at Disneyland in 1972. Versions of it ran in Florida from 1977 to 1991 and then from 1999 to 2001. It returned to Disney World again in 2010.
The parade features half a million shimmering lights. Some of its features include a 23-foot-tall Clock Tower over Cinderella’s Ball, complete with elegant ballroom dancers in light-covered costumes; the smoke-breathing, tail-wagging Pete’s Dragon; and a 108-foot-long red, white and blue flag finale. Classic characters such as Snow White and Peter Pan also appear.
The parade’s musical theme, the electrically synthesized “Baroque Hoedown,” is interwoven with Disney themes.
Vonnegut-penned opera to debut
Two festivals and the world premiere of an opera that Kurt Vonnegut finished shortly before his death will celebrate the writer’s legacy this fall in his hometown, Indianapolis.
“Happy Birthday, Wanda June,” based on Vonnegut’s play of the same name, will be performed for the first time Sept. 16-18. The opera will be staged right after the Vonnegut’s World festival, Sept. 7-14.
The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library will host events Sept. 26-30 coinciding with the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week. Vonnegut’s novel “Slaughterhouse-Five” was banned by some schools and communities for its anti-war, anti-establishment themes.
Vonnegut fans get another chance to honor his legacy during VonnegutFest 2016, Nov. 10-13.
Though he lived most of his life in New York and Massachusetts, Vonnegut once said, “What people like about me is Indianapolis.”
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