The Houston Art Car Parade started in April 1988, with 40 cars and a crowd of about 2,000. The parade now consists of over 250 cars from all over the country (and Canada), and is estimated to have been seen by 250,000 people! A number of the people I spoke with had traveled from other cities to see it. One guy was in from New York.
http://www.orangeshow.org/artcar.html

Even though I moved to Houston in 87, this is the first year that I've made it out to see the parade. I had a blast and plan to watch it each year from now on.

Some of my favorites:
Bunny Slippers - http://spiceware.org...rade2009/P1000714

The Crapper Car - http://spiceware.org...rade2009/P1000739

Peep Mobile (yep, Peeps! Click on picture for full size image) - http://spiceware.org...rade2009/P1000741

I'm currently uploading the photos and am about 1/4th the way done.
http://spiceware.org.../ArtCarParade2009

Done uploading the photos. Here's a few of my other favorites:

Dragon - http://spiceware.org...rade2009/P1000776

Blues Brothers Tribute - http://spiceware.org...rade2009/P1000788

Ping Pong Balls (looks better in person as they're all mounted on the end of springs and move all over the place) -http://spiceware.org...rade2009/P1000858

Wiener Dog (legs are attached to the wheels so it looks like it's walking down the street) - http://spiceware.org...rade2009/P1000883

Peacock (tail feathers up) - http://spiceware.org...rade2009/P1000915

Peacock (tail feathers down) - http://spiceware.org...rade2009/P1000916

Dragon - http://spiceware.org...rade2009/P1010053