Krewes of Hermes & d’Etat Parades 2020

The Mystic Krewe of Hermes is the oldest of 3 parades that roll Friday night. Because of weather rescheduling, we’d already watched 2 parades – Muses and Babylon – without bands and dancing groups to keep things moving quickly. Though we have 5-parade days on weekends, we don’t normally start have to start them after school lets out. Hermes blanketed the crowd in blinkies, including their popular glowing wing headpieces. My favorite moment was when Saints legend Steve Gleason rolled past covered in glow tubes – but he was too quick for my camera.

The riders of  Le Krewe d’Etat threw a satirical spotlight on everything from Jeffrey Epstein to A.O.C.

Krewes of Hermes and d’Etat Parades

Mystic Krewe of Hermes is the first of 3 parades that roll Friday night – and the Krewe that’s been rolling longest that night. In 1937, nearly a decade into the Great Depression, some local businessmen thought the best antidote for the blues was to expand Mardi Gras to a 5 day party. Judging from the size of the crowds, we still agree.

The satirical Le Krewe d’Etat’s motto is “Vivite ut Vehatis. Vehite ut Vevatis,” which mostly means, “Live to Ride. Ride to Live.” Rolling since 1998, the beautiful and irreverent floats by The Royal Artists feature skeletons as do their beads and throws. This year’s floats put a spotlight on everything from Mueller to millennials.

Watching Hermes, D’Etat & Morpheus with Thomas Morstead (Who Dat!)

As readers of this blog know, I’m suffering a major time crunch blogging this year. This has been my busiest, most amazing Mardi Gras ever! I’ve gotten to watch the parades many ways this season – as a regular parade-goer and while dancing with the Pussyfooters in Muses and Thoth and even from Quentin Tarantino’s float in Orpheus. But last Friday was my first time watching from a balcony on the route. At last year’s Greasing of the Poles at the Royal Sonesta, I met the Pussyfooters. It was the beginning of an amazing journey into sisterhood and silliness. This year, I met Saints punter Thomas Morstead. The next thing I knew, we were meeting his wife and friends, eating good food and enjoying the super-crowded parades from his balcony.

Judging the Greasing of the Poles

Last year, I was asked to be a “Celebrity Pole Greaser” at the Royal Sonesta’s 43rd Greasing of the Poles to kick off Carnival weekend. The person who recommended me to the Sonesta was a fan of this blog and a member of the Pussyfooters – who performed with me that day. While we were lining up to go out to the crowd, another Pussyfooter suggested I should join their group. I’ve loved watching them since my first full Mardi Gras season in 2010. Just seeing their pink power dancing my way made me smile and made me proud of my own brand of pink-corset-and-combat-boots femininity.  

Greasing of the Poles

For over 3 years, this blog has mostly been a long love letter to New Orleans as I move from longtime visitor to citizen of the Who Dat Nation and part of the gumbo of this city. I’ve attended concerts, parades, festivals and more and shared the events with you readers. But when I participated in the Royal Sonesta‘s 43rd annual Greasing of the Poles, like Alice Through the Looking Glass, I stepped into the story.  In order to keep revelers off the balcony during Mardi Gras, the Sonesta greases the poles on Bourbon Street with a celebrity-studded event and contest with fans spanning from locals on balconies dressed in wigs and costumes to the Greasing of the Poles Fan Club from Germany.

Le Krewe D’Etat

Le Krewe d’Etat was the second of the 3 parades on Carnival Friday, or “Vendredi Gras.” Another of the city’s politically satirical parades, the floats are irreverently funny and skeletons abound. The krewe’s motto is “Vivite ut Vehatis. Vehite ut Vevatis,” which mostly means, “Live to Ride. Ride to Live.”

Throw me somethin’ mister!

Been too busy parading to write about parades, but it’s Lundi Gras (AKA Shrove Monday for you practicing Catholics) so there aren’t any parades until after 5 pm.

The city wide love fest continued through last week. People are still pinching themselves over the Super Bowl victory and, though “Who Dat” is still a legitimate greeting, we’ve added new answer backs.  “We Dat!” and “Believe Dat!” are the most popular.