Ann Arbor FestiFools: Family, Community, Art, Foolery & Fun

FestiFools is a yearly celebration in Ann Arbor where the community gathers together to make unique public art - huge paper-mâché puppets - that are marched throughout town in a parade late one Sunday afternoon in early April. This free event is family-friendly and a lot of fun, and is even proceeded by a nighttime lantern parade the Friday night before!

This year, Festifools happens on Sunday, April 7, 4:00-5:00 p.m. It starts on Main St., between William and Washington. Families can view many magnificent, huge, bizarre, human-powered papier-mache puppets while they join thousands of Ann Arbor's most Foolish friends as they frolic about downtown Ann Arbor.

Before that though, families should plan on experiencing the FoolMoon walk on Friday, April 5. Bring your luminaries and plan to begin between 7:45 and 8:00 p.m. as the procession of luminaries and shadow puppets weaves through the Ann Arbor Farmers' Market location, Slauson Middle School and throughout downtown as they thread their way to Washington and Ashley Streets in the heart of Ann Arbor. While this sounds like an adult-only event, I have been assured by others that it is appropriate for families.

For a better sense of what FestiFools is, here is a video of the 2011 parade or check out the YouTube FestiFools channel.