Krewe of Orpheus Parade

The Krewe of Orpheus parade is one of my favorites. The first all-inclusive Krewe (male, female, all races, etc.), Orpheus celebrates performing artists with glorious Kern Studios floral floats dripping with giant pearls. A Super Krewe of 1,300 riders, everything about the parade is grand. The parade opened with the Marines playing a sexy, bluesy version of House of the Rising Sun as waves of gas-lamp twirling flambeaux lit the way for giant school bands. The Simpson’s, Harry Shearer and Mayor Mitch Landrieu rode the first float followed by Castle‘s Nathan Fillion on the Monarch Float we rode in with Quentin Tarantino in 2014. Local-born parade co-founder Harry Connick Jr. waved from the next float.

Highlights included the 610 Stompers, Pussyfooters, Lightwire Theatre (seen on America’s Got Talent), marching bands from St. Augustine, Belaire, Edna Karr (including the 4 drum majors from Beyonce’s Formation video), St. Mary’s Academy, Landry Walker, Moss Point, Carrol, Talladega College and Mississippi Valley State and the magical Smokey Mary 6-car train float.

After the parade, we walked to the French Quarter and found the parade stalled on St. Charles. A dance party was playing out in the distance as people cheered in a circle surrounding the battlers. As we got closer, I realized it was my own dance troupe, the pretty-in-pink Pussyfooters, who were “hosting” this impromptu shindig. Even closer, I could see that the dancers in the middle of the circle were tiny tots covered in beads. Totally adorable.