Carnival is a season. Mardi Gras is a day (Fat Tuesday). Though there have already been several parades this year, most of us still think of the French Quarter’s satirical Krewe du Vieux Saturday night parade as the official-unofficial start of “parade season.” Since 2019, Krewe Boheme (with a Covid interruption) has been rolling the preceding Friday. The whimsical Bywater/Marigny/French Quarter walking parade was established by artists and the krewe’s symbol is a green fairy – the nickname for absinthe, a super-intoxicating liqueur. Continue reading
Category Archives: Carnival
French Quarter Fest 2022 – Thurs.
I missed many things during the pandemic, but most of them are available at French Quarter Fest, my favorite festival of the year. The 20 stages of indigenous music and 60 local food booths provide the best of our city’s offerings and it was great running into friends after so long – and seeing so many people wearing Pelicans basketball gear!
We started our day by the Aquarium with Margie Perez serenading a brunch-time crowd of visitors and locals from tiny tots to great-grandparents. Continue reading
Filed under Carnival, Concerts, Culture, festival, free events and lagniappe, Local Cuisine
Fat Tuesday 2022 – Costumes!!!
Fat Tuesday – Mardi Gras in French – splits the city into parade-goers and costumers. Parade-goers go to the Krewe of Zulu and Krewe of Rex parades, with diehards staying for the truck parade. We’re costumers so we spent the day wandering the French Quarter and Marigny taking in all the fun and fabulous ideas people came up with this year.
Last year was so quiet so it was wonderful to see all the colorful silliness and ingenuity on display. There were a lot of Ukraine costumes this year. Continue reading
Krewe of Red Beans
I’ve explained before that there’s more than one Mardi Gras. On Lundi Gras (Monday before Fat Tuesday) we’re usually Uptown for the epic Krewe of Orpheaus Parade. The floats and bands are incredible and the weather promised to be mild for the nighttime parade. This year, we decided to attend the Krewe of Red Beans parade in the Marigny instead.
Founded in 2009, the Krewe of Red Beans began with a small group of school teachers and newcomers to New Orleans. Continue reading
Krewe of Iris 2022
The Krewe of Iris was established in 1917 – making it the oldest all-female krewe. Hand-decorated sunglasses are the Krewe’s’ signature throw and I caught 4 pair! Iris has gorgeous feminine, vividly-colored floats. My favorite is still the woman’s face with long, flowing, strawberry blonde hair – purple irises nested in the locks. Continue reading
Krewe of Ancient Druids 2022
The last Wednesday of Carnival is the kickoff to 7 straight days of parades – ending with Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras). The weather was phenomenal – 75 and balmy – for The Krewe of Ancient Druids parade. Druids was founded in 1998 and honors the Celtic priests who acted as mediators between people and their gods and nature. Continue reading