Parades are always filled with wonder and excitement, but a lot of times the spectators feel left out as everything goes by. Imagine joining the parade and offering free hugs to everyone in it as well as all of the spectators. Well if you can’t imagine it, just watch this video playlist to see how absolutely amazing it can be:

The Hyack Festival in New Westminister, BC (https://www.hyackfestival.com/hyack-festival) will have one of these magical parades but it will also be followed by an amazing street festival with another flow of people. We’ll be at both with our arms open – first hugging the participants and spectators along the parade, then we’ll pick a corner (maybe a hug zone?) and offer free hugs at the festival!

This event will be weather permitting and fun onesies (http://hugsarenice.com/product-tag/onesies/) or really any kinds of goofy outfits are highly encouraged (although we can bring you a brightly colored sign/shirt if you message us in advance)! We’ll meet at the IHOP at 514 Eighth Ave just before the parade starts, then off we go! A map from a previous parade (hopefully still accurate) shows the route at http://hyack.bc.ca/sites/default/files/International%20Parade%20Route%20Map.pdf and it looks to be a pretty short one (4-5 blocks) so we’ll still have some energy for the festival 🙂

Never given out free hugs before? Check out http://www.improvanywhere.ca/freehugs.html and http://hugsarenice.com/ to learn all about it, then just show up with open arms and a smile and that’s all there is to it! This event is totally free, takes no preparation, and requires no commitment whatsoever – give it a shot and feel free to leave at any time if it’s not for you. But just so you know, you’ll likely find yourself hooked within minutes and you won’t want to leave even after everyone else is gone.