Purim has a serious side. It celebrates freedom from oppression and, because the hero is actually a heroine, Purim also celebrates the importance of women. You probably know it as a football rattle. One very popular tradition is the performance of Purim Schpiels, which are plays enacting the Purim story. Purim Service is followed by a fancy dress parade in the Synagogue.
People dress up as all sorts of characters from Jewish history and tradition.
Family groups often work together. I remember a few years ago that the four of us dressed up in cagoules, walking boots etc. festooned ourselves with maps and binoculars and wandered around the synagogue trying to find our way to the front. The site belonging to a Reform Jewish ccommunity in the States called Temple B'nai Shalom. American Jews tend to use the word temple when European Jews use synagogue. B'nai Shalom means Children of Peace.