Inaugural Children’s Hospital Holiday Parade

I’ve loved dancing with the Pussyfooters in the annual Krewe of Jingle holiday parade for years. Sadly, the parade didn’t survive the pandemic, so organizers from various local organizations came together to create the first ever Children’s Hospital Holiday Parade. The float builders at Kern Studios created Louisiana and New Orleans-centritc floats like alligators and Mr. Bingle. TV cameras were set up throughout the city to report the action. Floating balloons (like in the Macy’s parade) were added to the many dance krewes and school bands crowds have come to expect.

Krewe of Jingle Parade 2018

The Canal Street Home for the Holidays Krewe of Jingle Parade is a perfect way to kick off the holiday season. The 80 degree weather brought out a big crowd for the dance troupes, marching bands, majorettes, stilt-walkers, floats, Santa and local favorite – Mr. Bingle.

Krewe of Jingle Parade 2016

The Canal Street Home for the Holidays Krewe of Jingle Parade features dance troupes, stilt-walkers, marching bands, majorettes, floats, Santa and local favorite – Mr. Bingle. Organized by the Downtown Development District, the parade rolled for the 9th year, attracting locals and tourists – many in festive costumes of their own. Krewe of Jingle is one of my favorite parades to dance in with my “pink sisters,” the Pussyfooters.

Krewe of Jingle Parade 2015 (finally)

After 2 catastrophic computer crashes and losing this blog post work (twice) as well as many photos, here is finally my post on the Krewe of Jingle Parade 2015. Organized by the Downtown Development District, the Canal Street Home for the Holidays Krewe of Jingle Parade features marching bands, majorettes, dance troupes, stilt-walkers, festive floats, Santa and local favorite – Mr. Bingle. (For the history of Mr. Bingle, click HERE). As one of the 125-or-so Pussyfooters dancers, I get to see the spectacle from the inside-out including festively dressed children and kids-at-heart waving as we pass. 

I’m So New Orleans #ImSoNewOrleans

The Twitter-verse and Facebook have been buzzing for the last couple days with all things New Orleans. No one seems to know who started the #ImSoNewOrleans trend but it’s brought the city together in a way usually reserved for football season. People are sharing childhood memories, old photos of long-gone places and jokes and trends so inside, only someone who grew up here could truly get them. I didn’t. I wasn’t born here and I don’t have a good answer to, “Where’d you go to school?” (meaning which local high school), but I’m so New Orleans that my family owned property on St. Charles in the 1700’s. Okay, that doesn’t help me decipher some of the local references or share some of the memories, but it does make me feel like I’m home. 

Krewe of Jingle Parade 2012

The good news is that I am very, very busy preparing for the release of Django Unchained and the debut of my part as Leonardo DiCaprio’s sister, Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly as well as another project I’ll be announcing soon. The bad news is that I haven’t had much time to blog (or do laundry, etc.). We stumbled across my beloved Roots of Music marching band and founder, Derrick Tabb (of Grammy-winning Rebirth Brass Band) as they prepared for their upcoming trip to the Tournament of Roses Parade in California while on our way to catch The Krewe of Jingle Parade.

Krewe of Jingle Parade

This weekend was the 4th annual Krewe of Jingle Parade on Canal Street. The Downtown Development District created Canal Street: Home for the Holidays to draw shoppers and families looking for holiday activities. They wisely scheduled the parade to finish before the LSU game and many in the crowd were sporting their purple and gold as they waited for the Mr. Bingle float to open the festivities.