Krewe du Vieux Parade (sorta)

Lost most cities, New Orleans is dealing with the COVID shutdowns – but only New Orleans is also missing out on dozens of parades. Carnival season started Jan. 6th and we all bought King Cake to celebrate, then stayed home to eat it. Chewbacchus and Krewe Boheme would’ve started the parades in the last couple weekends and the official-unofficial start of the parade season would be this weekend’s Krewe du Vieux graphically satirical parade followed by Krewedelusion. This year, emphasizing masking and social distancing, Krewe du Vieux created a “parade route” of homes, bars and other spots for people to visit throughout the city starting in the Audubon neighborhood, where people were encouraged to drop off canned food donations.

Krewe du Vieux and Krewedelusion (R-rated)

Though much of the humor is the local insider sort, Krewe du Vieux and Krewedelusion are far and away the bawdiest sanctioned parades to roll through the French Quarter. Mardi Gras hasn’t officially started but the brass bands and costumes and throws have already begun. Saturday morning, I heard a band coming down the street and ran out to find DancingMan504 leading the second line honoring the recently departed Poppa Neutrino.