Mardi Gras Day 2012

Mardi Gras Day means many things to many people, but in the French Quarter, it means costumes, costumes and more costumes.  Uptown and on Canal, Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French) means parades all day starting at 7:30 am with Zulu. On Bourbon Street, the day means beads thrown from balconies, rebel yells and partying ’til you puke. But for the many who choose to meander the streets of the Quarter and the Marigny, it’s a spectacle of creativity set to a soundtrack of wandering bands and rolling boomboxes.

French Quarter Fest – Day 4

The last day of French Quarter Fest, we decided to quit fighting the crowds and enjoy the many international bands who’d flown from around the world to, as Julie Parker of K College in England said, “Have the audacity to play your music to you.” Recently, Japan has experienced a natural disaster that exposed infrastructure weaknesses and led to manmade devastation. That’s familiar territory for this city and the people here feel deep empathy for the people of Japan, just as they have for the people of Haiti. We decided to start the day with the Sound of Vespers from Japan.

Mardi Gras = Fat Tuesday (R-rated)

There are 2 distinct ways the city of New Orleans celebrates Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French). Last year, I celebrated Uptown style, attending parades on St. Charles from 8 am until 5 pm. This year, I tried the Downtown version of Mardi Gras for the first time, parading my own costumed self around the French Quarter for hours. I’d heard of the gargantuan costume party that is the French Quarter on Mardi Gras Day, of the Drag Queens who bring out their most outrageous creations, the families and groups of friends who dress together as Smurfs or everyone from the story, Alice in Wonderland, of the bared, sometimes painted breasts, but nothing I heard could have prepared me for the spectacle.