Happy Mardi Gras season! 🎉 💜💛💚For those of you not from Sout..
Added 2025-01-06 14:52:42 +0000 UTCHappy Mardi Gras season! 🎉 💜💛💚
For those of you not from Southeast Louisiana, tonight kicks off the first parade of Mardi Gras. It's a season of parades and revelry and goes until Mardi Gras day which is on March 4th this year.
I know what you typically see on the TV about Mardi Gras is people getting wild on Bourbon Street and while that does happen, 90% of Mardi Gras is about parades, good food, community, good music, and celebrating the love of life. Also, king cakes!
There is an entire schedule of parades, and they each have their own theme. Parades range from small, walking parades to huge floats and brass bands. Tonight's parade is Jeanne d'Arc which celebrates the life of Joan of Arc. It's a walking parade at night by candlelight, and has really elaborate medieval costumes. When the parade reaches the Historic New Orleans Collection building, a huge toast is made between a French delegate, Joan riding her horse, and the citizens of New Orleans. Google photos of it - it's pretty cool.
I'm getting longwinded here, but I'll end on this: everyone wears a costume, and it's usually handmade. They can match the parade's theme, or you can just do your own thing.
This is the one I made a few years ago, meant to look like a pastel-y medieval dream from the Rapunzel fairytale.
A song for you to get into the Mardi Gras mood: Hey Pocky Way by The Meters
Laissez le bon temps roule! 💋
