RICHMOND, Va. -- If you were anywhere near Cary Street in Richmond on New Year's Day, you heard joyous greetings and saw plenty of wondrous sights as the 2024 Cone Parade made its way through the community.
Susanna Raine has lived in Richmond for three decades and came to see something new.
"I've never heard of this," she said. "So, I wanted to come and see what it was all about."
Dozens of humans dressed up as cones, which come in all varieties: dinosaur cones, unicorn cones, farm animal cones, office furniture cones, Christmas tree cones, and even a Van Gogh painting cone.
That's just the first step in trying to define the 2024 Cone Parade.
Robyn Bentley said she dressed up because was ready for a new beginning.
"I wanted to start off the year doing something fun and whimsical," she said.
A man who gave his name as Warren "Conesaurus," who resembled an upright stegosaurus, said he may be a project manager by day, but this was a celebration of like-minded enthusiasts.
"It's for the New Year and join all the other cones," said Warren. "You know, we stay in hiding most of the year and we get to come out just once. So, this is the day."
Marchers started at the Aquarian parking lot in Carytown and headed east on Cary Street.
From the reactions of delighted onlookers, it didn't matter that this parade might be somewhat hard to define.
"It's certainly mystical, absolutely focusing of the energy, and really it's just to make everyone smile and have a good time," said Warren.
That mystical element involves something about the sacred geometry of the cone shape, but this parade had plenty of whimsy. And smiles.
"We're going to bring joy to Carytown because we're going to go all the way to the [Arthur Ashe] Boulevard and back and everyone at the restaurants and shopping today will see us and smile," said Bentley. "So, we'll be cheering up people on the first day of the year."
When I asked Raine what she thought all these joyous participants, young and old were celebrating, she said for her, it was about getting rid of 2023 and welcoming 2024.
One dad stood watching along Cary Street and helped identify all the creative variations on the cone theme that passed by, as his wife held their six-month-old baby boy.
"We've got an abominable snowman cone, we got a SpongeBob cone, lingerie cone," he said. "We do have a lingerie cone, and we've got a rainbow cone."
He said he thought his son would absorb some of his narrative.
They all said it was the best way to welcome a new beginning- with something fun, funny, and maybe undefinable.
"If you start off with a clean slate and you start with a happy day, I think we'll have a better year," said Bentley.
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