Holy Cows!

Chicago's Cows on Parade Festival
Pictures taken by Harry (with my Epson 750Z digital camera), August 1999

When I took a brief business trip to Chicago earlier this Summer, my boss told me to be sure and see the cows. Cows? Yep, life-sized fiberglass ones -- almost three hundred of them, scattered through the city. It's all part of a wonderful, weird program called Cows on Parade. The U.S. incarnation of an event originally held in Zurich, Cows on Parade features the work of Chicago-artists, each of whom was given a cow to decorate as he or see saw fit. The cows are now walking, grazing, sitting, and even flying around town, especially up and down the Magnificent Mile. They'll be on display until the end of October, and will then be auctioned off for charity.

The city has embraced the cattle invasion -- everywhere you go, people are visiting with the cows, snapping pictures of each other with them, and generally enjoying their presence. I ended up taking pictures of around 75 of the cows, and offer 23 of my favorites here.

Start the tour here, or visit the following sites for more information on Cows on Parade:

The City of Chicago's Cows on Parade page
BytheLake.com
ChicagoTraveler.com
The Original Zurich version