Gay Easter Parade 2022

Though the Chris Owens Easter Parade is visually stunning, the Gay Easter Parade takes Easter bonnets to a whole new level. Miss National Apollo 2022, Gia GiaVanni’s hat was as wide as the car that rolled her through the French Quarter. I ran into 2 people wearing my own fabulous pink and orange hat. 

Dancers and walking krewes included Mystic Krewe of P.U.E.W.C., Lords of Leather, Flaming Flagetts, Big Easy Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Krewe of Goddesses. When it comes to this parade, photos are truly worth thousands of words – so enjoy!

Southern Decadence 2019

Southern Decadence – 5 days of costumes, parties and parades celebrating the LGBTQ community – attracts over 210,000 people annually and creates a $250 million economic impact making it one of the top 5 annual events in New Orleans. It’s also one of my favorite walking parades of the year, an explosion of vibrant colors and fanciful costumes. This year’s theme was Fruit Salad: Come Toss a Good Time which led to a Carmen Miranda inspired spectacle.

Gay Pride Parade 2016

Gay Pride is usually one of the smaller parades in New Orleans compared with our bevy of Mardi Gras, Halloween, Christmas, etc. parades. But this year was different owing mostly to the recent tragic events in Orlando. This year, there were reportedly over 2500 people riding, walking or dancing in the parade as well as many floats. I happy-cry a lot at our parades, overwhelmed with the beauty, the music and the joy of it all. But as the first float rolled past, I sad-cried. The float had been left riderless in memory of the shooting victims and was followed by dozens of people holding up photos and names of those lost. It was a beautiful tribute that cut right to my heart. I’d rather remember their names and faces than the murderer’s. The rest of the parade featured glittery rainbow-festooned fabulousness that I’m sorry I don’t have time to elaborate on – but enjoy the photos!

Touring NOLA, Vintage Trouble, Latin Parade and More!

Having guests is always a great excuse to hit some of those tourist spots locals tend to shy from. So when my dear friend since high school finally came to New Orleans for the first time, we “toured” the sites. Angela arrived Thursday night and we headed straight for Coop’s so she could have her first jambalaya. We stayed in to catch up that night and headed to Cafe du Monde for insanely tasty beignets the next morning. On the way there, I spotted a familiar face down the street. I said loudly, “Do you know who that is? That’s the lead singer and trumpet for Treme Brass Band!” Angela looked to the t-shirt wearing, blood-shot-eyed man holding a trumpet just as he smiled.