Participants create their own unique costumes for the parade. Some dress as Piggery Pete. Some dress as other pagan characters. Some create their own magical identities. 

Piggery Pete wears a shapeshifting pig mask and a tattered cloak covered in geometric patterns. Under the cloak his body is coated in mud and earth. He carries a staff covered in bells. 

Bells are integral to folk parades worldwide. They are used to ward off spirits, celebrate seasonal changes, and create a shared rhythm that unites communities. From Alpine Krampus runs to Basque fertility rituals and Caribbean carnivals, their sounds evoke both tradition and transformation. In Piggery Pete's Perchten Parade, bells are rung to awaken the land and our hearts, calling us forth into a renewed connection with the earth, ourselves, and each other.

Instruments and noise makers are welcome.

Parade implements include sticks, staffs, stalks, dried flowers, evergreen branches, and other natural materials that symbolize our connection to the earth. Natural materials can be piled around the Perry Hannah statue at the end of the parade as a symbolic burial or compost pile that will help transform our past. As the Growth Guardians teach us, "Our pain and confusion can all be healed. In alchemical compost our hardened hearts are annealed."

Costumes are made with an emphasis on natural and reused materials to limit our impact and the planet, inspire ingenuity, express gratitude for the things we already have around us, and keep the cost of participation low. 

Costume building workshops will take place over the next few months and will be announced on the Facebook event page and by LEAP. 

Costumed folk parades around the world celebrate seasonal transitions, community identity, and cultural heritage through vibrant displays of masks, costumes, and performances. Rooted in pagan and other religious traditions, these events blend entertainment and collective joy with symbolic rituals that honor life’s cycles and the balance of light and dark forces. In recent years, many of these ancient traditions have experienced a resurgence, embraced as a way to preserve and revitalize local culture.

Folk parades in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, often feature two contrasting figures: the Schön Perchten, who wear beautiful, ornate costumes symbolizing blessings and fertility, and the Schiach Perchten, who don grotesque masks and furs to drive away evil spirits. These parades celebrate the transition of seasons, purify communities for the new year, and honor Perchta, a guardian of seasonal cycles. 

Though their origins are sometimes unclear, these folk parades continue to captivate audiences with their theatrical displays and cultural significance.

Piggery Pete is our local Schiach Perchten with a heart of schön.