The Mardi Gras Experience

The Mardi Gras Experience

The in’s and outs of getting the best out of the Mardi Gras season.

Crowds roll in from all over the country to witness the “greatest free show on earth,” also known as the Mardi Gras experience. For a few weeks early each year the city’s residents make preparations for the coming of Mardi gras. Bakeries churn out delectable King Cakes, Krewes plan parade routes, schools prepare their marching bands and the whole city decorates its doors in wreaths, beads, mesh ribbon and any purple, green or yellow decoration they can find. This is much more than just a parade, it is a demonstration of tradition, history, close-knit ties and the lifeblood of New Orleans. If you’re in New-Orleans for the crazy parties and parades or just for the extravagant amounts of people watching, you will not get bored during the Mardi Gras season.
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This past February (2018), my husband and I had the pleasure of enjoying a week in the crescent city, half of which was spent experiencing Mardi Gras! All of it may seem chaotic at first, don’t get me wrong, but after you get a hang of the schedules it’s not too difficult to navigate. To help everyone out a little, I have compiled a quick mini-guide to give you a short and sweet brief on what to expect and what the Mardi Gras experience is all about (as well as a few tips).

 

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Brief History

Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Originally the tradition was brought over from Europe in celebration of the feasting prior to Lent. The first Mardi gras was held February 24 – 1857. Over time it grew in size and extravagance from the influence of the city needing an uplifting break from hard war-torn and economic times. If you are interested in a detailed history, it can be found on the Official Site. Mardi Gras fluctuates every year due to the Lenten Callender and the official dates for the upcoming mardi gras celebrations can be found here. It can fall on any Tuesday from February 3rd through to March 9th, but parades go on for weeks before the final date, the last Tuesday is just the Finale of it all.

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Krewes

Krewes are organized groups of individuals who put on the parades and floats during Mardi Gras. Some of the ‘krewes’ are shrouded in mystery as their member’s identities are kept secret not only for Mardi Gras but for the entire year. Often wearing masks to hide there identity during parades, outside of events members do not disclose membership to anyone. Krewes range from male only/female only/mixed gender/LGBT members.

Not all of the groups you see during mardi gras are considered Krewes. There are smaller walking groups you will see strutting the streets in costume most often in the French Quarter. These organized groups are anything from colleagues to fundraising societies around the city.

There are over 60 krewes in New Orleans and all traditionally have a mythical namesake.

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Kings and Queens

Every year the different Krewes elect their own Kings and Queens and they often have unique reveals either through parties or in secrecy at the end of the night. The Kings and Queens can be seen riding extravagant floats during each Krewes route throughout the city. The highest role and honour is to be the King of Rex, albeit not the oldest krewe, but it is the one that started many of the New Orleans Mardi Gras traditions and is held in high regard throughout the city.

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Krewe Formal Balls/After Parties

Formal late hour balls are a popular event during Mardi Gras and they are hosted by the Krewes themselves. A large number of these events are members only, so do not arrive in the city expecting a buy-in. On the bright side, there are guest specific balls and evening parties held by certain Krewes for locals and those visiting the city to enjoy. It is expected that you wear your best formals or costume depending on event requirements or expect certain embarrassment as they like to single out those who don’t put the effort into the costume.

Tip: Tickets can run very steep in price (easily over $100) but they do come with certain perks as events such as these often have secret celebrity guests!

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Cost

Although Krewe balls are a purchased ticket, Mardi Gras itself is a completely free parade event. Do not let anyone sell you tickets saying otherwise, it is a scam!

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Parades 

Parades go on all over the city for weeks prior to the finale and as mentioned before the parades around the city are free! Jam-packed with floats, fire handlers, masked men gallivanting on decorated horses, and marching bands from different schools, it enough to make your retinas sting a little from the colourful overload. You may also wonder how multiple parades this large for weeks at a time are possible around the city, fortunately, each krewe’s members fund their own entire parades and floats, it comes with krewe membership responsibilities. Each Krewe has a different theme every year, and the throws reflect the themes.

Majority of the parades take part in the uptown portion of the city. Schedules fluctuate every year and the final week is the craziest it will get. All the biggest, oldest and largest parade krewes come out to dominate the streets. My personal favourite and easily one of the craziest parades I experienced was the Endymion Krewe. Although there was a massive downpour that night it did not stop the flashing lights, bead throwing and spontaneous street dancing from happening.

Tip: Download the New Orleans phone Parade App for smartphones. It allows you to follow the parade as it happens.

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Throws

What makes Mardi Gras so unique is that unlike so many other parades around the country, Mardi gras parades are known for their throws aka. beads!!  Although plastic colourful beads, cups, and doubloons are classic throws yearly, each crew has unique and even collectable throws. By the end of the night, you will be covered by so many colourful beads or other fun items, you won’t have enough room for it all (luckily a lot of hotels have drop buckets, so you can donate your beads and other goodies if you choose not to keep them).

Tip: Bring a recyclable grocery bag to hold the throws you catch. I guarantee you will catch more than you can hold.

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Flashing

Everyone has questions regarding indecent exposure. Showing private body parts for beads is NOT part of the New-Orleans Mardi Gras tradition. Certain Mardi Gras throws are hard to get and so people have resorted to breast exposure to better their chances. You do not have to feel obligated to show anything for simple few cent beads! Many balcony throwers (including myself) do not endorse letting all the goods hang out. And believe me, you will surely get a lot of great throws without doing so. I sure did, check out my swag below; I gave most of it away by the end of the night; spread the love.

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King Cake

Although, available all year round, King cake is especially popular during Mardi gras. This delicious fluffy cinnamon twisted cake often has a colourful glaze and a small plastic baby toy(which is supposed to symbolize Jesus) baked into it. And don’t be deterred by the massacre of icing and colour. It may not look like the most beautiful delectable pastry out there, but it is undoubtedly more delicious than you’d expect. This Century-old tradition (originating from the pagan European era) goes that the person who finds the plastic baby enjoys the title of ‘king for the day’. It also means you need to purchase the next round of cake.

Tip: For our personal favourtie head over to Manny Randazzo’s King Cake for the best classic(or not) king cake. King cakes classic flavour is cinnamon but you can have it baked with dozens of different flavour fillings, such as peach, raspberry and delectable pecan praline just to name a few.

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Gold, Purple, Green

The classic Mardi Gras colour scheme has a meaning behind each colour, Purple, Green and Gold respectively stand for justice, faith and power, enacted by rex the king of carnival.  So bring your colourful feathers, masks, sequins and boas and be as festive as you can around the city!

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Dressing Up/Costume

It only takes one day walking through the city, especially around Bourbon Street in the French Quarter to realize that parading in costume, wigs, tutus and masks is commonplace. No one bat’s an eye from the extravagant choices or lack thereof, of costume all together. Multiple shops around the city will have a wide variety of goodies to bedazzle yourself with all the colours of Mardi- Gras.

Tip: If you want to get some beautifully crafted handmade leather masks, head to The French Market District, where local artists set up outdoor tents to showcase their goods.

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And Lastly The Mardi Gras Experience

I can’t define it. It may be something in the water, but the unbelievable humbleness of the locals mixed with the intoxicating jazz, and undoubtedly delicious cuisine makes New Orleans a place unlike any you’ve ever been. Add in the Mardi gras parades into the mix and you have one heck of a well-rounded cake with a cherry on top. Going out for our first parade I had no clue what to expect…

I stood on the edge of the street next to some beautifully decorated local businesses. I sipped on an extra-large beer in hand and the other free to catch. Much like Europe, I enjoyed being able to walk around in public enjoying some good frothy beer. I was loving the alcohol deals in the city (who could beat buy 1 get 2 free deals?!) A few floats went by and I caught my first few throws, a handful of beads, a plush football stamped with Krewe Insignia and my favourite throw, a knit headband from the Knights of Babylon.

After the first Krewe parade passed, there was a little bit of leeway time before the next group made it to our destination. The pub beside us had scaffolding set up specifically for mardi gras to create an upper floor balcony.  Climbing out of the window, no one seemed to mind the mild obstacle to the pleasant outdoors.  And to make it even better, a hired DJ to keep the party going in front of the pub. In minutes after knights of Babylon passed, an amazing synchronized spontaneous dance party blew out in front of the pub. Completely filling up the entire street for the immediate 4-blocks surround us.

It was a surprisingly surreal experience. Even if you don’t want to drink or party, the social aspect of everyone from young to old enjoying the same colourful parading lights beneath the crescent moon, is enough of a reason to go and enjoy the Mardi Gras experience.

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