Lions and Duckboats and Costumes, Oh My

You might have seen all the signs around Boylston Street today announcing the street being closed Saturday morning. The city then put up a flashing sign for motorists this afternoon warning them of the “Lions Club International Parade of Nations.” What the hell is the Lions Club parade you ask? Well, Bostonist had to submit an “Ask Bostonist” question to itself and did a bit of research on this one. The 89th Lions Clubs International Convention is being held this weekend in Boston (originally planned for New Orleans) and gathers some of the 1.4 million members from over 185 countries together. All the members are volunteers in their community who focus on preventing blindness as well as helping with health and education needs. The Lions Club is now the largest service group in the world.

So they kick off their convention the way every convention should...with a parade from the Boston Public Library to the Common. Besides the usual marching bands and touristy duck boats, there’s going to be 8,000 Lions. Now don’t get too excited; these are not the wild animals as we first assumed. There will be 8,000 Lions members dressed in their international attire. If you happen to be sauntering down Boylston Street Saturday morning at 9:30a.m., check out the parade. You’ll at least get some fashion inspiration from all those worldly outfits.

Yes, that is Simba the lion in a parade; unfortunately he can't make Saturday's parade due to a scheduling conflict. Photo courtesy of Flickr user Jimw.