Melting ICE and welcoming spring at the 51st Mayday parade
May 03, 2026 | 7:18 am ET
Description
A massive whistle float, powered by bicycles, stands in front of a loon as puppeteers and musicians prepare to march during the 51st annual Mayday Parade in South Minneapolis Sunday, May 3, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
After a remarkably difficult winter, the 51st Mayday parade in south Minneapolis was especially poignant.
The festival of puppets, music and protest art has long highlighted immigrant communities and decried U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This year, anti-ICE sentiment was omnipresent, though accompanied by Mayday’s typical celebratory energy.
Tens of thousands of people crowded the streets around Powderhorn Park to participate, cheering as floats passed and serendipitously running into friends. Brass Solidarity played before, during and after the parade, with pockets of impromptu dancers cropping up in their wake.
One elaborate contraption, temporarily named the Dinobago, is a donated Winnebago transformed into a drivable, animatronic T-Rex.
This is the same T-rex that stood in a front yard just a few paces away from where ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good this past January.
The presence of the dinosaur in videos of the protests following Renee Good’s killing caused many people on social media to cry “AI.” But it was not.
Paris Brom, driver of the Dinobago and Mayday participant of 14 years, quipped that he was “driving the fake news.”
Caretakers of Renee Good and Alex Pretti’s memorials marched in the parade alongside the animated dinosaur.
Fabiola Rodriguez, a memorial caretaker, marched today in her first Mayday festival.
“It brought up a lot of feelings, seeing so many people, different cultures, different traditions, dancing in the streets. This is a really good thing.”
Rodriguez said that many people recognized her from the memorial site and shouted and waved as she marched.
“What we are doing at the memorial, it’s really for the community…. People are showing us that we’re doing something good,” Rodriguez said.
One group of marchers, dressed as and carrying flowers, formed the after-wedding party of their newlywed South Minneapolis friends.
Celebrations, concerts, and after parties will continue into the night as South Minneapolis welcomes spring as only South Minneapolis can.
Saint Paul, MN
