In the past, we’ve participated in the 2014 and 2013, Southland Santa Parade as “the animals of christmas”. This year, the Invercargill Vegan Society and The Vegan Kiwi joined forces to enter a time machine! During the 2015 Southland Santa Parade, over 20,000 people packed into Invercargill’s central streets.
Popular sci-fi movie “Back to the Future Part II” timetravelled in a DeLorean from the mid 1980’s, into October 21 2015. As it so happens, we’re all fans of the BTTF movies, annnnnd…..Miranda and Jono of The Vegan Kiwi actually own a 1983 DeLorean DMC12 sportscar! Based in Christchurch, Miranda and Jono were glad to come to the party. They lent their vehicle’s iconic status to the cause of furthering respect for our animal friends.
To raise awareness of animal rights, INVSOC and The Vegan Kiwi ran an October 21 2015 campaign about how we can all “brighten the future” for animals in need. Miranda appeared with her car in national television news, and Invercargill Vegan Society founder Jordan had a piece in The Southland Times. The Southland Express also ran a classic car feature on The Vegan Kiwi’s DeLorean. Check these out, on our October 21 2015 campaign to “Brighten the Future”.
As it sped off in time, the time machine DeLorean left behind flaming tyre tracks in it’s wake. In a progressive sense, we’re all animal rights trailblazers, building support for veganism animal rights going forward. For animals in need, this is uh, rather important! With our innate compassion and a sense of justice, you don’t need a time machine to change the world. We can all work together, for a kind, compassionate vegan world, where all animals are equal.
We were a little afraid that The Vegan Kiwi’s 32 year old sportscar might breakdown on the way south! If you’ve ever seen the Back to the Future movies, you’ll notice the DeLorean is portrayed as sort of temperamental! After the posters, newspaper article, Southland Express feature…..what if the car had a mechanical fault?
Or….what if Jono was pulled over for doing 88mph, 141kph through urban Christchurch? Turns out, “the bastards *can* do 90!”
Luckily, The Vegan Kiwi made it in once piece. Our powers combined, we were ready to “Brighten the Future” for animals, in the Southland Santa Parade :-)
In attendance, Miranda and Jono of The Vegan Kiwi, INVSOC activists Jordan, Jen and Jo. There really should be a study one day, just how many animal rights activists have names starting with the tenth letter of the alphabet…. :-)
With our “time machine” and pink hoverboard, we were ready to promote a sustainable, kind future of animal rights. We can’t easily change the past, we can all work on our present. Together, we can build a future of respect for all.
We’ve boiled the Southland Santa Parade down into one convenient video. We had a great time, meeting new people, especially fans of the “Back to the Future” movies. It’s always wonderful to meet others and to represent Southland’s growing animal rights community.
Our video shows the parade’s start, and loop of the Invercargill CBD.
About 70 groups fielded entries for the Southland Santa Parade 2015. Among them, several *diverse* animal related charities, organisations….industries. Alongside the Invercargill Vegan Society, were the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), slaughterhouse company Alliance, and butcher Bowmont Meats!
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) rescue van, behind Alliance slaughterhouse company’s Winnie the Pooh entry.
Bowmont Meat’s animal agriculture scene, complete with pig costumes.
Among other parade groups, our dear friend Yolanda usually joins the Invercargill Vegan Society entry. Last year’s event, we were sad that it was the last time we’d be together, before she returned to China. Luckily for us, she soon came back to Invercargill, *and* joined the 2015 parade with a Chinese culture group!
Yolanda, still pretty in pink, on the far left :-)
Southland Santa Parade “Head Elf”, Alice Pottinger with the DeLorean
Almost a whole rugby team!
A dramatic “selfie” stick angle :-)
The man of the hour
The firefighters all loved the DeLorean. Pictured here, they leant out and shouted approval. Miranda and Jono could testify, without air conditioning on the the trip down from Christchurch, they felt like they were trapped in an inferno!
Invercargill Vegan Society activists Jo and Jen carried the banner, representing Southland’s vegan community :-)
Hoverboard….check. “Back to the Future” themesong providing theme-ing……yup! Flux capactor……fluxing……. 1.21 “jiggawatts” jigga-watts-ing……we’re ready to go! Here’s to a brighter future, here’s to veganism, respect for animals.
INVSOC activist Jordan carried the mighty pink hoverboard, as he wished everyone a merry christmas :-)
The streets of Invercargill were packed! Over 20,000 in attendance, about half our city of 51,000 people.
Throughout the parade, we heard people exclaim how they loved “Back to the Future”. We heard shouts of support for animal rights, and people congratulated us for “standing up for what we believe in” :-)
The parade route is a gentle loop, taking about an hour. We were joined mid route by animal rights supporter Carla, always keen to volunteer, to rescue and help animals :-)
Making the Southland Santa Parade even more memorable, we even managed to gatecrash a wedding! Outside the Invercargill Water Tower, we wished the happy couple a “timeless” romance……with our time travelling DeLorean jumping into a few wedding photos :-)
After a simply fantastic, sci-fi Santa Parade, we headed back home to INVSOC HQ. We spent time with our reason for promoting animal respect: our hen friends. These lovely birds are why we do what we do, to save animals from harm, to advocate animal rights to protect them all.
Working to support animal protectors, we meet some really incredible humans. People who care about saving the planet, about saving animals…..who really really love 80’s movies about stainless steel sportscars and time travel and flux capacitors!
It’s for the animals that we work to support Southland’s large vegan community. Every day spent with our hen friends, saved from a closing Mosgiel egg farm, is just a miracle. These hens would have been killed were it not for animal lovers stepping in, and providing a safe “forever home”. What it really comes down to, is that we all have the power to change the world, for each and every animal we save, for everyone we love and respect.
As animal lovers, vegans wish to avoid hurting animals. In the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the choices we make, we simply skip things which involve animal cruelty. Living in the future, it’s only getting easier and easier to live vegan for the animals. Taking inspiration from “Back to the Future”, we can all choose to “brighten the future”, for animals in need.
We don’t need a time machine to change the world. As Huey Lewis and the News sung through the movies: “it don’t take money, don’t take fame. Don’t need no credit card to ride this train”.
We all have compassion for animals. We can all help animals in need, today. With our actions, we can choose to live in a way respectful and considerate for animals. As vegans, we can all work for a brighter future for our animal friends. “That’s the power of love”.
We can all choose to “brighten the future” for animals in need.
