christmas | Rabi Abonour | Visual Storyteller

It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas.

Christmas in the Village has been a tradition in Zionsville since, well, forever. Usually a weekend, this year it has been extended to a month of holiday events. The month kicked off Saturday with the annual Christmas parade. Bagpipers, dancers, even a reindeer – and of course Mr. and Mrs. Claus – marched through the Village and down Main Street as families lined the roads. A bubble machine rained soapy snow onto the brick street, making the last day in November feel remarkably festive.

Organized by the Zionsville Chamber of Commerce, the parade brought hundreds of people to downtown for what will hopefully be a lively holiday season. Say what you will about small-town life, community events like this make Zionsville a great place.

Saturday morning found me where all Saturday mornings should: at the Bloomington farmers’ market. As I was strolling the market shooting, multiple people told me to check out something happening that night called Bloomington Krampus. I didn’t know what they were talking about, but I had nothing better to do that evening, so I decided to check it out.

For those of you aren’t familiar with Krampus, it is an Alpine Christmas tradition. Each year Saint Nicholas comes to give candy to the good children. The bad children get terrorized by beasts called the Krampus. Early in December, men dress as the Krampus and roam the streets. Turns out a group in Bloomington decided this town needed to be part of the tradition.

I met the crew, and an admirably large crowd of spectators, on the B-Line. After they paraded down the trail, they entered their “lair” to get ready for the rest of the night. One of the event’s photographers got me in, and I spent the rest of the night traveling town with the beasts. It was quite the night.

Moral of the story: when people tell you to check something out, do it. You just might end up hanging out with monsters.