For some reason, all mascots/characters in parades give me the creeps. I don't know if you've seen any in the Falls, but the Cookie Monster and Pink Panther are even more disturbing than these guys.

I know what you mean, but pretty much no one dresses up for the cultural festivals. For German Fest there's always a few people wearing dirndls or lederhosen, but that's pretty much it. At least the Renaissance Faire deals with a specific time period, but I'm sure you're right that a lot of people get it wrong and end up looking silly. I think that if you're going to be in a parade that you should at least get the clothing close, though. I bet half those warrior costumes were from Halloween ones.

Yeah, he was like, "Oconomocomocawoc?" XD