Mardi Gras 2021

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Mardi Gras will be unrecognizable this year. Most parades have been cancelled. A few have regrouped, creating drive-thru parades. The dancers, bands, and krewe members throwing beads and masks “parade” on either side of a road as parade-goers in cars pass. With no parades, people are taking their house-blinging to the next level this year. Krewe of House Floats, a grassroots effort to give neighbors a safe, socially distanced parade experience, encourages people to use local businesses and artists to help decorate their homes as house floats. I’ve already seen 3 homes done as floats and they totally brightened my days (PHOTOS below).

Pussyfooters Blush Ball 2015

Like so many little girls, I used to dream of dressing like a pretty pink princess and going to a ball. Since moving to New Orleans in 2009, I not only find occasions to attend balls, I get to be part of throwing an annual ball – dressed all in pink! The Pussyfooters annual Blush Ball is a “Party with a Purpose,” a fundraiser benefitting the victims of domestic violence served by the Metropolitan Center for Women and Children (METRO). But the Blush Ball is also a heck of a good time and a great way to kick of the Carnival season.

Mardi Gras Tree 2015

Mardi Gras is early this year with Krewe du Vieux kicking things off on January 31st. I’m still eating treats from my Christmas stocking but it’s already time for King Cake. I had my first slice at Sucre on the afternoon of Twelfth Night. Throughout the rest of the country, people are taking tinsel of trees and setting them by the curb while here in New Orleans, many of us convert Christmas trees to Mardi Gras trees.

Pussyfooters Blush Ball

The Pussyfooters, a spectacular gathering of impressive women over 30, is best known for dancing in parades dressed in burlesque-ish pink and orange figure-enhancing confections. The organization also holds an annual Blush Ball to raise money for various causes benefitting women, children and the community. This year’s “Party with a Purpose” raised $30,000 for the Metropolitan Center for Women & Children (Metro).