Easter Parades and Hats!

Easter in New Orleans means many things to many people. It’s just as “normal” to see seersucker suits and Sunday-best as to see egg-colored wigs and hats piled high with decorations. But Easter in NOLA definitely means parades. Though I missed the earlier Historic French Quarter Easter Parade, we caught the 32nd annual Chris Owens French Quarter Easter Parade and the Gay Easter Parade benefitting the NO/AIDS Task Force’s Food for Friends program. A renowned burlesque dancer and club owner since the early 1960′s, Chris Owens still performs nightly (despite rumors of her being in her early 80’s) and she throws a heck of a parade.

This year’s entertainment included the Yat Pack, the Krewe of Rolling Elvi and llamas and Shetland ponies. Floats from I’m a Dancer, Fleur de Paris (my favorite NOLA hat shop) and other groups threw us beads, stuffed animals and candy-filled plastic eggs.

Rain threatened just as the Gay Easter Parade was heading our way so the carriages started moving nearly too fast to photograph – which was a bit of a bummer because people take their Easter bonnets very seriously here so my favorite part of the day is taking in all of the creativity and craftsmanship that goes into all the hats. Hard to do at an accelerated pace.

Fun music was provided by 3rd Line Brass Band, Pair A Dice, Panorama Brass Band and One Shot Brass Band. There were walking groups from Golden Lantern, Food for Friends, First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans, Lords of Leather, Metropolitan Community Church of New Orleans and New Covenant NOLA.

Enjoy the photos!