A 5-day weekend of costumes, parties and parades celebrating the LGBT community, Southern Decadence brings over 150,000 people and a nearly $200 million economic impact. We caught the tail of the rerouted Friday night parade but were there in plenty of time for the 41st Southern Decadence Sunday parade, an exuberant procession of dance troupes and pride groups in festive and fabulous costumes. This years theme of “Swimmin’ with the Gods and Goddesses!” was punctuated with lavender, lime and silver.
As usual, it was Hades-hot so I was glad to be watching rather than dancing with my Pussyfooter sisters. But I was delighted to find them lining up as we made our way to the parade’s start.
Louisiana Equality Foundation kicked things off. Dance and costuming troupes and bands included Roux La La, Bearded Oysters, Mystic Krewe of P.U.E.W.C., Camel Toe Lady Steppers, Organ Grinders, Muff-A-Lottas, NOLA Cherry Bombs, Pair-a-Dice Tumblers, Krewe of the Rolling Elvi, Mystic Krewe Lords of Leather, Disco Amigos and Star-Steppin’ CosmoNaughties. Second line dance favorites DancingMan504 and Jennifer Jones were also in the mix and LGBT + Archives Project of Louisiana “Get our history out of the closet” finished things up.
For us, this weekend’s decadence was mostly limited to food. In particular – food from Wink’s Bakery. I had the breakfast platter 3 days running and enjoyed bites of flavorful excesses like berry-and-creme-stuffed pancakes but it was the lunch we took home for supper that blew us away. Barbecue Cornish game hen, peas, cornbread and the most insane bacon mac-n-cheese I’ve ever had ever ever. Ever. And I wanna say it cost about $11. Dessert was a white cake with a chocolate shell, topped with candied pecans and butter cream icing. For me, that’s plenty Southern Decadence.
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- Friday parade
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- Lucky Pierre’s float
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- Friday parade,
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- Pussyfooters lining up
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- Pussyfooters
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- Pussyfooter
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- Pussyfooters parading
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- happy
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- swimmers lining up
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- green goddess
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- mermaid
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- ready to lead the parade
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- parade begins
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- King
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- King’s train
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- King’s train ends
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- Pussyfooters!
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- Pussyfooters parading
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- kisses
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- bees
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- swimmers
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- swimmers,
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- fish
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- fish,
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- Babydolls
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- political endorsement
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- Roux La La
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- Roux La La!
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- Roux La La,
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- beads
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- Progressive
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- St. Christopher
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- political endorsement,
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- Bearded Oysters
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- Mystic Krewe of P.U.E.W.C.
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- Camel Toe Lady Steppers,
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- Organ Grinders!
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- Organ Grinders,
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- Organ Grinders
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- Muff-A-Lottas
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- Muff-A-Lottas,
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- more Muff-A-Lottas
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- NOLA Cherry Bombs
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- Jennifer Jones
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- Pair-a-Dice Tumblers
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- Pair-a-Dice Tumblers,
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- Krewe of Rolling Elvi
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- Krewe of Rolling Elvi,
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- Ozark Ballet Co.
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- Mystic Krewe Lords of Leather
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- Mystic Krewe Lords of Leather,
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- Disco Amigos
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- Disco Amigos,
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- inner-tubers
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- inner-tubers,
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- inner-tubers dancing
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- Star-Steppin’ CosmoNaughties
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- Star-Steppin’ CosmoNaughties!
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- LGBT + Archives Project of Lousiana
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- after the parade
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- after the parade,
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- Wink’s pecan cake
L.A. to N.O.LA 
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I’m with you. The specialties from Wink’s Bakery fit my definition of decadence. Add Wink’s to the list of potential rendezvous locations during Carnival. Thanks for the write-up and the awesome photos. Still using the same camera?
Love Winks. So good. So glad you enjoyed the post and – yes, I am!
I always read your blog. It is always great. You write well and your photos are awesome.
Wow – thanks! A couple of these photos are new favorites for me.