Grumpus Crawl
Grumpus:
Inviting winter holiday traditions from around the world to Buena Vista, Colorado. We celebrate the beautiful collection of spooky, fun and emerging folk traditions that remind us of the power of winter.
Grumpus 2025:
Theme:
Singing In Light
You are invited to join the Grumpus group to participate in the 2025 Buena Vista Parade of Lights! We'll be walking and singing with electric candles; we will not have a float or costumes this year. We'll start with a small group at the origin of the parade and have participants on each block who will walk out and join us in song and light. We have 70 electric candles for participants and are handing out 200 tea lights to the crowd. The tea lights will have a QR code leading to this quote from Oscar Romero:
"Peace is not the product of terror or fear.
Peace is not the silence of cemeteries.
Peace is not the silent result of violent repression.
Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all."
If you would like to participate please RSVP Here
Planning:
December 5th 5:00-6:30pm Optional mushroom soup and singing practice party.
December 6th Meeting at 3:00-4:30pm at Deerhammer Distillery for candle and music distribution. (1-5 organizers will head to the parade check in at 4pm for registration and lineup)
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4:30 Folks that are starting the parade head to start location-- all others get spots along route.
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5:00 Parade Starts
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5:45 Parade over
December 21st Solstice Celebration! Fire (weather permitting), good food and flaming raisin.
Why no costumes this year?
The whole reason we invite all of the traditions of winter celebration is to understand the monster of winter. Krampus and Perchta and all those grumpy characters remind us to be wary of nature and kind to one another.
Right now, in this time and place, there are monsters looming that are not cold and winter stars. The monsters right now are divisiveness and discrimination. We wanted to invite people to walk in song and gather together in light.
Then come have a banging solstice celebration with us on the 21st!
Costumes, silliness, and general merriment!
We'll be singing an abbreviated version of the song below with the first and third verses.
Exploring
Traditions
Winter traditions are much broader and more complex than only Santa! Many of these traditions, like Krampus, focused on getting children to behave and stay safe during long, dangerous winter months. Some, like the Kukeri of Bulgaria, were to scare away evil spirits to begin the new year. Other traditions acknowledged the spirit of winter, like the Cailleach or Perchta-- winter goddesses that represent the end of the year cycle and the end of the female life cycle in general.
Add to these traditions the pop culture references of our modern time in the form of movies and shows that we watch each year-- family traditions that began with love and silliness. The Grinch, Home Alone, The Grizwalds-- all fun ways to encounter the holiday.
Grumpus allows us to explore the variety of stories and traditions of winter!
Look at our Characters for more info!
