Krewes of Pontchartrain and Choctaw Parades 2023

I didn’t take many photos of the Friday night parades – Oshun, Cleopatra and Alla, but we had a great time kicking off the Uptown parade season. It was a cold, wet night but the wind stayed away so it was manageable. One of the floats helped our family out with a gender reveal – it’s a girl! And I loved cheering on my Pussyfooter sisters as they danced past. I’ll be joining them for Carrollton, Muses and Thoth.

Oshun & Cleopatra Parades 2022

It’s been 2 long years since floats rolled down St. Charles – and it’s wonderful having our Mardi Gras back! We’ve been parading since Jan. 6th but the Krewes of Oshun, Cleopatra and Alla were the first to roll giant floats spewing beads, plushies, cups and more.

Parades! Oshun, Cleopatra & Alla

New Orleans has been celebrating Carnival since January 6th. Even if you didn’t attend the Joan of Arc Parade or wait to see the Phunny Phorty Phellows streetcar pass on St. Charles, the 6th was the day we could all officially eat King Cake. Every day. The parades begin 2 weeks earlier now but the Uptown parades are the official kick-off of parade season with the Krewes of Oshun, Cleopatra and Alla rolling.

Parades! Krewes of Oshun & Cleopatra

Friday’s parades kick off a weekend full – starting with the Krewes of Oshun & Cleopatra. I get like a kid at Christmas this time of year so the night was made even better by sharing it with friends and their tiny tots. Oshun features many school bands and youth dance troupes. The parade used to roll solo to much lighter crowds. Since adding Cleopatra to the evening, the crowds have filled in substantially.

Cleopatra likes to coat the crowd in blinkies leaving a trail of lighted medallions, headpieces, bracelets, swords and more.

Mardi Gras Wrap-Up 2016

This is my 7th full Mardi Gras/Carnival season and the evolution from parade-goer to parader continues. I’ve gone from attending dozens of parades alone to knowing people on the route to knowing people in the parade to riding in the Orpheus Monarch Float and becoming a Pussyfooter dancer in parades. Three years in, I’ve now helped a new batch of “Kittens” learn the dances and tricks for staying warm and comfortable while parading for miles and miles. I’ve gone from having every parade, Krewe, marching band, float, dance troupe and rolling krewe be new to me to knowing bands by their uniforms and floats by their designer and some by name.  Even the parade schedule is familiar. Very little is new anymore, now it’s anticipated and beloved.

Krewes of Oshun & Cleopatra

Carnival season is in full swing with the rolling of parades in Metairie, Downtown and the Krewes of Oshun and Cleopatra rolling Uptown. I felt like a giddy kid all day (and yesterday and…) knowing that the city streets would soon fill with families and neighbors from both sides of the river. Oshun features plenty of school bands and youth dance troupes. I love the pageantry of the royalty in their vibrantly colored gowns with giant feather collars.

Krewes of Oshun & Cleopatra

It’s Carnival time!!!! Krewe of Oshun and Krewe of Cleopatra got the season going and I’m so sad not to have the time to write about it. A few fun things – the Marie Antoinette-inspired Oui Dats have swelled from last year’s 6-pack in search of a parade to 40-or-so marchers proudly strutting St. Charles. And another cute Krewe debuted – the Amelia Earhawts. Rather than doing a dance, they zoomed around with their arms out like kids playing airplane. You never know what you’re going to see at Mardi Gras. 

Parades! Oshun and Cleopatra

The official Carnival parades kicked off with the Krewes of Oshun and Cleopatra on Friday night.  Oshun, named for the African goddess of fountains, love, wealth and religion, features peacock symbology and finely feathered royalty including Christopher Brown as King Shango, Queen Laquina Ladmirault Brown, Grand Marshall WDSU’s Damon Singleton and Ms. Black Lousiana, Chelsea Smith. Established in 1996, this year’s theme was “Night Out in the Big City.” My favorite float had to be the Saints Superfans float. Superfan Larry Jehle Jr. AKA “Saints Fett” passed last week after battling leukemia and, though he only ever got to attend one game inside the Dome, even Drew Brees mourns his loss.

Krewe of Oshun kicks off Mardi Gras

Krewe of Oshun rolled St. Charles as the first official Uptown parade of the season. No time to write so if you want more information about the parade, check out last year’s post. This year’s theme was “Child’s Play” with 19 floats based on nursery rhymes. Deborah Singleton Rogers was this year’s Queen Oshun and Ronald Joseph Lewis Jr. served as King Shango. Grand Marshal was former City Councilman and Treme guest star (playing himself), Oliver Thomas.

Mardi Gras Wrap-Up 2011

To sum up the entire season, Carnival Historian and float designer, Henri Schindler said it best, whether you’re a parader or a viewer, “It never ends. For the entire year, you’re either preparing for it, experiencing it or remembering it.” Louis Armstrong, who led a storied life said it was his lifelong ambition to be King of Zulu. And, as for me, Mardi Gras has always held a special place in my heart because of a photo I’ve cherished since I was a child.