Krewe of Orpheus Parade

The Krewe of Orpheus parade is one of my favorites. The first all-inclusive Krewe (male, female, all races, etc.), Orpheus celebrates performing artists with glorious Kern Studios floral floats dripping with giant pearls. A Super Krewe of 1,300 riders, everything about the parade is grand. The parade opened with the Marines playing a sexy, bluesy version of House of the Rising Sun as waves of gas-lamp twirling flambeaux lit the way for giant school bands. The Simpson’s, Harry Shearer and Mayor Mitch Landrieu rode the first float followed by Castle‘s Nathan Fillion on the Monarch Float we rode in with Quentin Tarantino in 2014. Local-born parade co-founder Harry Connick Jr. waved from the next float.

Krewes of Druid & Nyx

Krewe of Druids, founded in 1998, honors the Celtic priests who acted as mediators between people and their gods and nature. The krewe is fairly small and cloaked in secrecy. The first float didn’t pass us until almost 8pm. Kids have school, their parents have work but there were still plenty of families on the route giving it the miles-long-block-party feel I like. By tonight when I dance with the Pussyfooters in Krewe of Muses, the crowds will be thick with out-of-towners. Druids highlights included the Organ Grinders, the Amelia Earhawts and Sophie B. Wright’s marching band.

New Year/Sugar Bowl Parade

2015 was a great year in so many ways. I got to teach a graduate class at UNO instructing directors how to work with actors, I acted in several more movies and I completed another book (though a series of computer crashes prevented me from publishing The Secret of the Other Mother: A Charlotte Reade Mystery in 2015 – hoping to have it out my the end of January). And like so many things here, I got to celebrate it all with a parade and fireworks. The New Year’s Eve Parade was actually put on by the Sugar Bowl and its many sponsors and the festive Kern Studios floats reflected that. 

Glen David Andrews kicks off Armstrong Park Thursdays

The People United for Armstrong Park concert series began its 5th season with Treme’s own prince, Glen David Andrews. French Quarter Fest, the free 4 day local music and food extravaganza, just ended on Sunday. Days later, Billy Iuso and Honey Island Swamp Band played Wednesday at the Square, a free concert series. (I was stuck waiting on the Cox cable guys). And now, Thursdays in the Park are back – more booths of food, cocktails and crafts and more free music!

French Quarter Fest 2014 – Saturday

With the weekend in full swing, all of the over-20 stages and dozens more food booths opened throughout the Quarter for day 3 of French Quarter Fest. The first day, we parked ourselves in front of the Abita Stage and watched masters of their craft all day. Friday, we enjoyed all that again as well as watching well over 100 children take the stage throughout the day.  Saturday, we hit every corner of the Fest – from the Mint to the Aquarium and from Bourbon Street to the river.

Krewes of Druid and Nyx Parades

Wednesday was the Krewe of Ancient Druids (established 1998) parade followed by the newest women’s parade – the Mystic Krewe of Nyx in their 3rd year. I’m scrambling to manage my schedule so apologies for not doing links to other sites, photo labels and descriptions of the evening. Since I can’t label the photos (or narrow them down much), here are the dance teams and bands I photographed at Druids: Chalmette, Shine Time, John Ehret, Helen Cox, Gris Gris Strut, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Sci Academy, Sophie B. wright, Xtreme Voltage and Superstar Steppers.