With the parade in full swing, it was time to unveil the finished Shanachie Float. Cobbled together from bits of old sets, filled to bursting with performers in costume, it epitomised the sheer energy and enthusiasm that the men and women of the Shanachie seemed to throw at absolutely everything they did.

Dominating the centre of the float, orientated to split the space down the middle, was a large replica of the Shanachie's stage front, complete with ornate gold-painted rococco reliefs and heavy red velvet curtains. The proscenium arch was duplicated, displaying the same view from behind, and underneath the curve of that arch - on the stage, as it were - sat seven members of the Shanachie Theater's house band, playing their way through a seemingly unending medley of show tunes.

The edges of the float were decorated with the posters of every show so far performed on the Shanachie's stage, from Fame!, through Shakespeare, to the current production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. On the fore half of the float, overshadowed by the magnificent proscenium arch, could be recognised the silver coach from Cinderella, the dead tree from Waiting for Godot, the pirate ship from The Pirates of Penzance. On the aft were visible the handbag from The Importance of Being Earnest, the RKO aerial cut out from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the cauldron from Wicked.

Weaving in and out of these, waving wildly to the people that lined the streets and singing along to the medley of music at the top of their lungs were the assorted cast and even some of the crew from the Shanachie Theater itself. Each was in costume, each represented just one character of hundreds that had crossed the theater's stage in the past twelve months.

Every show was given a nod. There were Nick and Selena from Fame!; Clara and the Nutcracker Prince from The Nutcracker; the Ugly Sisters from Cinderella; Pozzo and Lucky from Waiting for Godot; the Pirate King from The Pirates of Penzance; the widow Popov from Chekhov's Comedy Shorts; Riff-Raff and Magenta from The Rocky Horror Picture Show; Willy and Biff Loman from Death of a Salesman; Viola and Sebastian from Twelfth Night; Paquita from Paquita Grand pas Classique; Elphaba and Glinda from Wicked; Jack and Lady Bracknell from The Importance of Being Earnest; the Firebird and Ivan from The Firebird; Katherina and Petruchio from The Taming of the Shrew; and lastly, Milly and Adam from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

((The building thread - such as it is - can be found here. Characters involved are: Ben Gates - Sebastian (Twelfth Night) Brigid Kelly - Elphaba (Wicked) Catherine Windsor - Glinda (Wicked) Zephyr Favonius - Magenta (Rocky Horror) Eurus Vulturnus - Pirate King (Pirates of Penzance) Juno - Clara (The Nutcracker) Max Yako - Adam (Seven Brides) Mataya De Luca - Milly (Seven Brides) The names beside their s/n names are the characters they are portraying on the float itself.))