Dressed up, ready for fun: New Orleans celebrates Mardi Gras
NEW ORLEANS — The streets of New Orleans were filled Tuesday with excited kids hoping to catch beads from atop ladders, revelers in fancy costumes walking through the French Quarter and Mardi Gras Indians wearing finely beaded costumes.
Tuesday marks the final day of the Mardi Gras season, which began Jan. 6.
After rainy weather affected some parades Sunday, the weather Tuesday was cold but sunny. People — some of whom came out before dawn to get a good spot along the parade route — bundled up under multiple layers. Temperatures in the New Orleans area were in the 30s and 40s Tuesday morning.
Lorenzo Bridgewater of Slidell, Louisiana, got to the parade route at about 4:30 a.m. to get a good spot.
“I doubled up my jeans, doubled up my socks. I’m wearing a sweater underneath this and underneath that a thermal with a shirt over it. So I’m pretty layered up,” he said.
The festivities kicked off early in the morning with the Northside Skull and Bone Gang walking through the Treme neighborhood before the sun was up, wearing costumes that look like skeletons and waking people up to celebrate the day.
Another crowd favorite is Pete Fountain’s Half-Fast Walking Group. The clarinetist died in 2016 but the walking group that he led for years still meets at Commander’s Palace restaurant and walks along the parade route ahead of the parades.
Lance Pierce, of Leonardtown, Maryland, got up early ahead of the rest of his friends to make sure he saw the group.
“I enjoyed watching Pete before he passed, coming down here and playing so that’s my thing. Everyone else is kind of sleeping in, taking it easy, getting their costumes ready to go. But I like to come out here and watch the guys come by,” he said.
Then the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club parade along the city’s famed St. Charles Avenue followed by the Rex Parade. Zulu’s practice of wearing black makeup during its parade has drawn attention and criticism after news that two Virginia politicians wore blackface heightened attention nationally to the issue.
Zulu issued a statement in February saying their parade costumes bear no resemblance to those worn by “blackface” minstrel performers at the turn of the century and that their costumes are designed to honor garments worn by South African Zulu warriors.
Zulu’s custom-designed coconut throws are perennial favorites with fans who vie for the chance to get one.
Tuesday’s Rex parade is also expected to feature a stop at “The Rex House,” despite a fire that heavily damaged the historic mansion. The home along St. Charles Avenue has been an important stop along the Rex parade route since 1907, and the Rex king usually stops at the house during the parade.
A fire on Feb. 20 caused massive damage to the three-story, 150-year-old mansion whose occupants over the years include four kings and a queen of Rex.
This year’s Carnival season also has featured numerous jabs at the NFL and its commissioner Roger Goodell, over the now-infamous “no-call” that came during the Jan. 20 NFC Championship game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints.
A Rams defensive back leveled a Saints receiver with a helmet-to-helmet hit at a crucial point in the final minutes of regulation time. The Rams went on to win the game and then lost to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
NFL officials acknowledged after the game that flags should have been thrown. But judging by the number of Saints fans dressed up as blind referees during the Mardi Gras season — and again on Tuesday — fans here have neither forgiven nor forgotten.
One parade featured a walking group called the “Robbin Refs” who wore referee outfits and black masks. On the back of their uniforms? A photo of Goodell with a red clown nose. TheKrewe d’Etat parade featured a float called “Willful Blindness” with a blind referee on the front holding a cane. Many parades have also featured yellow penalty flags as throws.
On Tuesday, some of city’s TV personalities got into the fun. WVUE television personalities riffed off the “no-call” theme with one of them wearing a referee outfit, another dressed as a clown with an NFL shirt on and another dressed up like a robber and holding what appeared to be the Vince Lombardi trophy.
The party officially ends at midnight, when police on horseback ride down Bourbon Street to ceremonially “clear” the street — a symbol meant to mark the end of the Carnival season. Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, which for many Christians is a period of fasting and reflection ahead of Easter.
Bacchus LI, actor Jensen Ackles, throws to the crowd as the 1,600 men of Bacchus present their 32-float Mardi Gras parade entitled “Starring Louisiana” on the Uptown route in New Orleans on Sunday, March 3, 2019. (Michael DeMocker/The Times-Picayune via AP)
The Krewe of Thoth rolls along the Uptown route in New Orleans, La. Sunday, March 3, 2019. Founded in 1947, the Krewe of Thoth is named for the Egyptian Patron of Wisdom and Inventor of Science, Art and Letters.(David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)/The Times-Picayune via AP)
The Krewe of Thoth rolls along the Uptown route in New Orleans, La. Sunday, March 3, 2019. Founded in 1947, the Krewe of Thoth is named for the Egyptian Patron of Wisdom and Inventor of Science, Art and Letters.(David Grunfeld/The Times-Picayune via AP)
The Krewe of Thoth rolls along the Uptown route in New Orleans, La. Sunday, March 3, 2019. Founded in 1947, the Krewe of Thoth is named for the Egyptian Patron of Wisdom and Inventor of Science, Art and Letters.(David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)/The Times-Picayune via AP)
The Krewe of Mid-City 2019 rolls along the Uptown route in New Orleans, La. Sunday, March 3, 2019. Mid-City’s parade is the fifth oldest continuously parading organization of the New Orleans Mardi Gras season. The Krewe of Mid-City is the only parade that decorates its floats entirely with colored aluminum foil, the same way it has been done since 1933, when it was started by Mid-City business man Charles A. Bourgeois.(David Grunfeld/The Times-Picayune via AP)
The Krewe of Okeanos 2019 rolls along the Uptown route in New Orleans, La. Sunday, March 3, 2019. Okeanos is named for the Greek god of oceans and fertile valleys and is sponsored by the Sonaeko (Okeanos spelled backwards) Club.(David Grunfeld/The Times-Picayune via AP)
The Krewe of Thoth rolls along the Uptown route in New Orleans, La. Sunday, March 3, 2019. Founded in 1947, the Krewe of Thoth is named for the Egyptian Patron of Wisdom and Inventor of Science, Art and Letters.(David Grunfeld/The Times-Picayune via AP)
Collin Cancienne, 9, of Metairie hopes riders can fill his Mardi Gras box with throws as the Krewe of Mid-City rolls on the Uptown route in New Orleans Sunday, March 3, 2019, to the theme, ëMid-City Thinks Outside the Box.í Patricia Braswell Murray reigned as Queen Mid-City LXXXVI over the clubís 200 male members on 17 floats. Founded in 1933, the Krewe of Mid-City is the 5th-oldest continuously parading organization of the New Orleans Mardi Gras season. (Scott Threlkeld/The Advocate via AP)
Revelers reach for beads and trinkets as the Krewe of Thoth rolls on the Uptown route in New Orleans Sunday, March 3, 2019, to the theme, ‘Thoth Salutes the Greats.’ Douglas Rushing reigned as king and Madison Komnecker as queen over 1,800 male riders on 39 floats. Founded in 1947, the Krewe of Thoth is named for the Egyptian Patron of Wisdom and Inventor of Science, Art and Letters. (Scott Threlkeld/The Advocate via AP)
The Officer’s Float rolls down Napoleon Avenue as the 1,600 men of Bacchus present their 32-float Mardi Gras parade entitled “Starring Louisiana” on the Uptown route in New Orleans on Sunday, March 3, 2019. (Michael DeMocker/The Times-Picayune via AP)
The Title Float rolls down Napoleon Avenue as the 1,600 men of Bacchus present their 32-float Mardi Gras parade entitled “Starring Louisiana” on the Uptown route in New Orleans on Sunday, March 3, 2019. (Michael DeMocker/The Times-Picayune via AP)
The Bacchagator rolls down Napoleon Avenue as the 1,600 men of Bacchus present their 32-float Mardi Gras parade entitled “Starring Louisiana” on the Uptown route in New Orleans on Sunday, March 3, 2019. (Michael DeMocker/The Times-Picayune via AP)
Monarch Mario Lopez throws to the crowd on Napoleon Avenue as the 1,400 men and women of the Krewe of Orpheus present a 38-float Mardi Gras parade entitled “The Orpheus Imaginarium” on the Uptown parade route in New Orleans on Monday, March 4, 2019. (Michael DeMocker/The Times-Picayune via AP)
Harry Connick Jr. rides with members of the New Orleans Saints on Napoleon Avenue as the 1,400 men and women of the Krewe of Orpheus present a 38-float Mardi Gras parade entitled “The Orpheus Imaginarium” on the Uptown parade route in New Orleans on Monday, March 4, 2019. (Michael DeMocker/The Times-Picayune via AP)
A group of parade goers dressed as blind referees show off the signs on their backs, Tuesday, March 5, 2019, in New Orleans. Such costumes have been popular at this year’s Fat Tuesday celebrations as New Orleans Saints fans express their anger over the infamous “no-call” during the NFC championship game. (AP Photo/Rebecca Santanta)
