Seattle trips the light fantastic with Disco Pig, the first of Pigs on Parade.(The Seattle Times)

SEATTLE _ As befitted the occasion, the mood was dignified, as least as dignified as it could be with a set of high-heeled, pink-wigged dancers shaking their groove thangs to the sounds of Kool and the Gang.

Outside a purposefully hidden display window at Nordstrom's flagship store, a crowd of about 100 rocked to the beat as handlers prepared for the main event earlier this week _ the unveiling of the first of 200 artist-decorated, fiberglass pigs destined to dot the street corners of downtown Seattle this summer.

The planned pig outbreak is part of Pigs on Parade, a project benefiting the Pike Place Market Foundation's programs for low-income residents of the neighborhood. The swine pay homage to Rachel, the bronze pig that has stood sentry at the market since 1986.

On May 26, a convoy of designer porkers will roll from the market to Westlake Center, where they'll be on display for several days before being placed throughout the area.

So far, the foundation has about 70 of the 200 individual and corporate pig sponsors it hopes to line up, at rates from $2,500 to $20,000. The effort echoes those in cities such as Chicago, which unleashed cows upon its citizenry to raise ...