2024 May Day Parade in Minneapolis

On May 5, 2024 the annual MayDay parade wound through South Minneapolis, proceeding down Bloomington Avenue, turning onto 34th Street and ending at Powderhorn Park. A central feature was the Southside Battletrain, an elaborate cardboard and welded-scrap art vehicle moved by participants on custom bicycles and accompanied by drummers and performers. Organized by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre since 1975, the parade is a long-standing neighborhood tradition that celebrates spring and local culture while often addressing social and environmental themes. This body of work follows the Battletrain and other processional elements along the route, showing handmade floats, banners — including a black cat banner reading “We Never Forget” — and moments of fire, music and communal performance. The emphasis is on grassroots building, collective participation and the inventive materials and choreography that distinguish South Minneapolis’s May Day festivities.