Krewe du Vieux & Krewedelusion (R-rated)

At 30 years old, Krewe du Vieux is certainly the bawdiest of Carnival season’s parades. Though the satire is generally pointed in the direction of local politics and concerns, the floats often feature a giant penis or the occasional vagina. A spin-off of the Krewe of Clones (1978-85), the Krewe du Vieux parade was born of a scheduling clash with the city’s hosting of Super Bowl XX that cancelled the Clones’ parade that year. A few of the Clones’ 32 Subkrewes decided to march anyway. By the following year, Krewe of Clones had disbanded and reformed into Krewe du Vieux and rolled with a funeral as their theme to give birth to the new tradition. 

Krewe du Vieux and Krewedelusion 2015

After a fabulous supper at Susan Spicer’s Bayona, we headed down to Royal Street in the French Quarter to catch the 29th Krewe du Vieux and 6th Krewedelusion parades. Paradetracker.com let us know when to finish up desert but the crowds were so thick, we ended up missing the first couple of floats just trying to find a place where we could see. Krewe du Vieux and Krewedelusion are the city’s unofficially-official start to Carnival’s parade season.  (Carnival doesn’t “officially” start until 12 days before Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French)).

Krewe du Vieux and Krewedelusion (R-rated)

Though Carnival doesn’t “officially” start until 12 days before Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French), the city’s unofficially-official start is certainly the one-two satirical-parade punch of Krewe du Vieux and Krewedelusion. The bawdy R-rated parades lampoons local, national and even international politics with the addition of jabs at the Olympics-host Russian policy toward gays. With throws ranging from earplugs to liquor, it’s a fun adult night parade in the French Quarter.

Krewe de Vieux and Krewedelusion 2012

It’s Carnival time!!! Kids on Christmas Eve have got nothing on New Orleanians anticipating Mardi Gras so when I heard a brass band passing through the French Quarter Saturday afternoon, I ran to find The Roots of Music marching through the the streets, rehearsing for their 6 upcoming parades, and squealed with delight. Enjoy the short video of the casually dressed but very skilled kids who’ve dedicated themselves to training after school with this wonderful non-profit group. They certainly got me in the mood for Krewe du Vieux and Krewedelusion’s parades later that evening.

Krewe du Vieux and Krewedelusion (R-rated)

Though much of the humor is the local insider sort, Krewe du Vieux and Krewedelusion are far and away the bawdiest sanctioned parades to roll through the French Quarter. Mardi Gras hasn’t officially started but the brass bands and costumes and throws have already begun. Saturday morning, I heard a band coming down the street and ran out to find DancingMan504 leading the second line honoring the recently departed Poppa Neutrino.