Dylan Brogan
Jim Wildeman and his Bubblemobile have been a mainstay of the Willy Street Fair parade since 1979.
Stilt walkers with bright butterfly wings are converging on the 900 block of Williamson Street. A formidable gang of kids on unicycles rock ominously in place. Whoever is in the head-to-toe gorilla suit leans against a tree in quiet contemplation. An annual Madison tradition is about to begin.
“Who is ready for the Willy Street Fair parade?” booms Jim Wildeman, the unofficial grand marshall of the procession, atop a retrofitted 1967 white Cadillac Phaeton. The “Bubblemobile,” in all its iterations, is the parade’s centerpiece and its effervescence has delighted all for decades.
With a triumphant toot of a cornet, onlookers on the street part and the spectacle presses forward. The Handphibians, a Brazilian percussion group, start up right on cue and provide the driving beat necessary for any self-respecting parade. A small child is literally jumping with joy as the whimsical scene unfolds.
Ald. Brian Benford, who represents the Willy Street area on the city council, is equally enthralled.
“It’s beautiful. This amazing parade, it’s a chance to celebrate with neighbors before the cold, dark days of winter. Especially with the pandemic still going, today feels extra special. I just love it,” says Benford, who has attended the Willy Street Fair since its humble start in the late 1970s. “I know every alder loves their district. But us D-sixers really know how to do it. We’re the best.”
The Willy Street Fair began four decades ago as a small neighborhood gathering organized by Common Wealth Development to build community when the east side thoroughfare was dotted with empty storefronts. It has evolved into a major fundraiser for the Wil-Mar Center that attracts thousands from across Madison and the city’s surrounding communities. For better or worse, Willy Street has largely lost its gritty reputation as a haven for hippies, motorcycle clubs, and misfits. But the spirit behind “Keep Willy Street Weird” lives on in its annual parade.
This year’s festivities include an old white hearse that quietly advertises the website “gravedancer.us.” Inside the undertaker’s limo there’s a mysterious passenger wearing a black plague doctor mask with a long beak.
Then there’s a father and son, who identify themselves as Vaughn and Var and sport Druidic garb complete with animal pelts and horns. These modern-day pagans offer no explanation on the sign that adorns their small float that reads “subtle ripe ambiguous worldly incomplete complex wonder.”
“I’m a black cat,” Var tells Isthmus.
The parade is a chance to make a political statement, too. Members of the Madison chapter of the “Raging Grannies” activist group — including a few Raging Granddaddies — wave to the crowd as they dance to the Forward! Marching Band playing “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
The climate action team from 350 Madison promotes clean water with a choreographed homage to a wildlife scene with performers playing fish, ducks and beavers moving to the Talking Heads’ cover of “Take Me to The River.”
One gentleman, from the Movement for A People’s Party, strolls by and hands this reporter a card.
“Can I interest you in some communist propaganda, my good man?” asks the man with a smile.
Wildeman, aka the Bubble Man, gives Isthmus a brief history lesson after the parade concludes. He has participated in every Willy Street Fair since the very beginning.
“The Bubblemobile used to be the only float. The rest of the parade came together spontaneously,” explains Wildeman. “People would come off their porches and join the parade behind the Bubblemobile. There were kids on tricycles. Some people wore costumes. We’d start at the building that used to be Plan B and march to the Crystal Corner. Then we’d all go inside and have a beer.”
Bubblemobile stats:
• The current Bubblemobile is the fourth vehicle that has been used in the Willy Street Fair parade and it wasn’t always a convertible. Purchased on eBay 14 years ago for $1,200, its original hardtop was removed by the previous owner for an unknown reason.
• The other Bubblemobiles: 1964 Buick convertible; Chevrolet LUV pickup truck; and 1964 Cadillac convertible
• Compressed helium tanks in the trunk shoot bubbles out of the Bubblemobile’s two modified sousaphones. An electric bubble machine, powered by the car’s battery, provides bubbles from a centrally mounted blower.
• The Bubbleman’s bubble recipe: One gallon of water, 32 ounces of Dawn dishwashing detergent, and 16 ounces of vegetable glycerin.
• The Willy Street Fair has been canceled twice in its history: 2001 after the 9/11 attacks and 2020 because of COVID-19. Even so, the Bubblemobile made an appearance on Willy Street both years at alternative events.
