The "Classic" Parade

Even though the Classic homes cannot win the fancy Neohome Spotlight trophy anymore, many of us "classic homies" did not drop our nails and hammers, we did not sweep the tiles into corner and we did not take the cans of paint and rolls of wallpaper to the attic! We continued working on our Classic Neohomes! And my main goal of writing this article is to let you know one of the reasons which still motivates many of us to keep building our Classic Neohomes – the reason is the Classic Neohome Parade. This might sound a little unusual and weird at first, but I’ll try my best to inform you, my fellow Neopians, about these great parades...

The Classic Neohome Parade, like any other parade, consists of audience, "floats" and lots of fun. The parade is held at the Neohomes board during many holidays and also on every season. The audience consists of Neopians, Neopets, their petpets and even some petpetpets. The floats aren’t ordinary, though; they are Classic Neohome rooms or gardens. As for the fun part, keep reading on...

Any event which is going to be fun and successful needs good preparation. The Classic Neohome Parade is not an exception.

To get started, you need a Classic Neohome. After finding the best neighborhood and buying the land, you need to choose materials for building the rooms. If you prefer more expensive walls and floors, you might even need to save up for a while. And when the rooms are built, you can start furnishing them. Each of our parades has a specific theme, a few examples are: spring cleaning, water works, Thanksgiving dinners and kitchens, rooms decorated for Christmas. I’d suggest to keep the theme in mind, while decorating your rooms and/or gardens.

You might be wondering why I mentioned floor tiles and wall paint earlier, when talking about Classic Neohomes. I’m aware that these items are available only for the new version of Neohomes. But since the rooms are viewed from top, the furniture is also viewed from top, and therefore a Purple Wardrobe looks like a purple rectangle, a Pink Table appears as a pink circle and so on. That’s why you can use almost everything to tile your floors or cover the walls with a unique wallpaper of your own design! There are several great guides for tiling and wallpapering written by fellow Neopians, so I’m not going deeper into that. Just keep in mind the perspective and the angles of the room, and get creative! Same goes for building your own furniture. You can create a TV, a grand piano, a washing machine, or anything else you can think of, from items which aren’t originally meant for such purpose.

The Parade Day is approaching fast and you might find yourself sitting in your room, looking around and thinking that there’s so much left to do, but so little time left! You realize that your new table-cloth doesn’t match with the curtains or notice a couple of dust bunnies under the sofa... Will you be able to finish on time?

Such concerns are normal and there isn’t reason for panicking yet. Call your Neopets inside from playing in the backyard. They can be a great help. For example, Grarrls are very strong and can help you to move a sofa to a different corner of the room. Korbats would save plenty of your valuable time by flying up to the ceiling lamp to change that light bulb, which went out at the last minute. Also, did you know that your petpets are able to help you out? A Cadro is handy for reaching those tall shelves in your Neohome, a Flizzardo's tail can be extended up to three feet away to pick up objects and a Beekadoodle loves to fly around at speeds faster than any other pet around, so you can use the little fellow to bring you necessary tools from another room. If you happen to forget where you left the hammer, rag or brush, don’t spend time on looking for them - a Triffin can see things that nobody else can by using its magical third eye, while a Snauberack has an acute sense of smell and can track down almost anything for you!

After spending long days, sleepless nights and a good amount of Neopoints, the parade entries are finally finished. Now giving the last touch by adding a fresh bouquet of rowzez to the vase on the table... and the room is ready to enter to the parade! All you need to do is to inform the parade organizer of your entry. You can also write a few words about your room, describe it, or tell a funny story of some happenings which occurred while you were building that room. In case you’ve put all energy into getting the entry done on time and can’t think of anything what to tell, don’t worry – the parade organizer will help you out.

Finally the parade day is here! All Neopets have dressed up – everybody wants to wear their finest or newest outfits on this fun day. Live music is playing. Depending on the parade theme, you can hear the Hikalakas, Twisted Roses, Jazzmosis or many other famous Neopian groups playing. There are lots of balloons floating around and the youngest pets are merrily running around and playing in the piles of confetti. The air is filled with the sweet smell of Noil Cotton Candy. Many goodies are thrown into the crowd. And suddenly, everybody gathers closer to the Parade Lane and turns their eyes into one direction – the first float has appeared! It is a beautiful room from a Classic neohome with a title and creator’s name included on a golden tablet. The audience is cheering and clapping while more amazing floats go by. Some floats are breathtaking and there’s "Ooohhhhhh" heard from the crowd. All Neopets try to get a spot in the first row, so they could have the best view. Pets lift up their little petpets, so they could see, too. Some naughty Neopets even try to sneak past the guard-rail, as it’s much more exciting to be closer to the floats, or even touch them! But for safety reasons, pet owners must take their Neopets immediately back to a safe distance. We want this to be a fun and safe event, after all.

Everybody is commenting on the floats they see, while more and more entries appear on the Parade Lane. This is the moment when "classic homies" get to show their talent and creativity, get recognition from fellow Neopians and know that their hard work has been worth it.

But if you were unluckily trapped in a snow storm in Terror Mountain and didn’t make it to the parade on time or if your Neopet was suffering at home with Neomonia and you stayed home to cure him, don’t be too disappointed. The parade has its own Parade Press. This newspaper has pictures of all the floats, also interesting comments to read and even a special corner of Neopians who participated in the parade for the first time. Just grab one free issue of the Parade Press and acquaint yourself with the beauty of the Neohome art, talent of fellow Neopians and the fun of the Classic Neohome Parade. Even if you don’t have a parade entry of your own, you’re still welcome to come and enjoy the fun with us, because – who wouldn’t love a parade?

This article is based on a wonderful real event, which is created and hosted by Zarinatara. Therefore, many Thanks to her!