'Where the Weird Things are' parade to take over Beltline

Now to our next story we are doing today here during our 1 o'clock hour. It's an event that is happening this weekend, and it really seems like a cool one. It features giant puppets, live music, and a chance to show off your weird side. Where the Weird Things Are returns to historic Fourth Ward Park this Saturday for a free Halloween celebration. Gotta love free. And so joining us now is creator Chantel Ritter to talk about what we can expect. Chantel, thanks so much for being here this afternoon. Oh, it is my pleasure. Thank you for having me. So this sounds like a really unique event. So tell us about it. What can people expect who are planning to come on out or people who didn't know about it? What can they expect if they want to come out? Yes. So where the weird things are happens in Old Fourth Ward Park down by the pond, which is a really special little place in Atlanta. It is the most beautifully designed storm drain there ever was. So it's a perfect place for the weird things to come out. so it is an upside down parade so our weird things are stationed all around the pond and their vibe is creepy sweet so the kids are afraid and then they want to hug them is what happens typically so um everyone is invited to come and walk around the pond and visit with the weird things and they're also invited to be your own weird thing you can be in the upside down parade so weird things are from here they're very local and that's because they sprang from your imagination so um make something crazy and any simple thing is good we've seen really fancy things and um there's a little tiny gifting going on so some of the monsters have little presents they like to give away and you can bring little presents to give away too like candy is a good tiny gift but we're seeing like little faces drawn on acorns is uh some of everyone's favorite thing and the band is fantastic it's the Black Sheep Ensemble okay and so i and the cool thing is because i i don't live that far from the park they actually just redid that entire park area was closed for i think about two months or something earlier this year where they basically redid it so uh the lake is or the pond i guess is pretty much brand new and going to be able to be featured and put on full display during this event yeah the park is looking just great all the water features are working it's just beautiful there and so you kept saying upside down parade what does that mean because i i'm not quite familiar with that is it just that people can take part and walk around and it's not like a parade route i guess where you would traditionally like a Mardi Gras parade the the features in the parade are stationary and people are invited to walk through it okay that's cool rather than a procession it's like the the spectator and performer role is reversed and so you said like uh there's gonna be more than 40 handmade puppets and we're getting some a look at look at some of the video from uh last year or the years past it looks really cool and like looks like a lot of people out there a family-friendly event it looks like absolutely absolutely it's not no one's jumping out and scaring kids they're um they're silly and sweet well and so how do you take something from your imagination and turn it into these life-size creations that we're all getting to see right now um i don't know where my ideas come from but um they amuse me to know and my new um the new weird things that are coming for me are the heebie jeebies this is one of the heebie jeebies you know like the that feeling that gives you the creeps so um the heebie jeebies it turns out that what they eat is bad ideas the more ridiculous the more delicious so we're going to provide them with feast and collect bad ideas and a bad idea collector and then toss them to the heebie-jeebies who will gobble them up so this event is in partnership with the Atlanta uh Beltline Art program and so what is it so what does it mean to be able to allow people to become part of the art themselves well we really love that participate participatory arts is is our jam you know like we're the we're the people that do the lantern parade okay so inviting our community to make stuff with your hands for the purpose of delighting perfect strangers is um our specialty and so before we let you go give us all the details where when and where can people find more information if they heard about this during the show here and like i want to go out there yes so um we start at 7:30 and it just goes till nine o'clock so it's a magic hour and a half and uh i would get there at 7:30 we have surprises in the middle of the time that i can't tell you about but you're going to like them and um more information is on the Beltline Art website and also on our website which is WeirdGonePro.com where the weird things are is the title page for that um parking is snug in that area you know there's a lot of parking at Ponce City Market and the surface lots you can get there any other way besides driving, it would be much easier for you. There's no vending, so pack a bottle of water and a snack and take it with you so we don't leave a trace. Yeah, all good advice. Chantel Ritter, I really appreciate you joining us this afternoon to give us all the details about this. Seems like a really cool event. I wish I was not out of town or I'd probably go check it out. Seems like a cool thing for people of all ages. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you so much.