French Quarter Fest – Friday

Day 2 of French Quarter Fest brought more nice weather, though things got dreary toward the end of the day foreshadowing the oncoming storm. And the latest oil spill in the river gunked up the banks and halted riverboat cruises and ferries. But, the day was terrific – starting with Cha Wa, a Mardi Gras Indian band. Lead singer J’Wan Boudreaux is the grandson of Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and is one of our city’s many reassurances that our music and culture are being passed down to a worthy generation.

French Quarter Fest – Thurs.

With over 20 stages of regional music and MANY local food booths throughout the Quarter, French Quarter Fest (FQF) is easily my favorite fest of the year – which in saying something in a city with literally hundreds of annual festivals. This is the Fest’s 35th year and things keep getting bigger and more crowded, but it’s still free and that’s amazing. The weather was perfect – upper 70’s, breezy and sunny. The Irene Sage Band was playing Led Zeppelin when we arrived. I’ve written them into my next Charlotte Reade Mystery so it was a fun way to start the day. 

Mardi Gras = Fat Tuesday

Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday in French) effectively splits the city into 2 groups – parade-goers and costumers. The fabulous and feathered Krewe of Zulu starts the parades with an early morning roll across the city. We caught the beginning floats, but closer to the end of the route when they’d already been going for hours. Spike Lee handed out beads as did an entire float of Saints.

We’re costumers so we left early and headed into the French Quarter so my husband could become a wrestling taco.