Mardi Gras Monday: Parades

photo credit: Toast to Life

This is part of an ongoing series of Mardi Gras-related posts. You can follow the rest of the posts here.

Parades are one of the most overlooked parts of Mardi Gras. Since they don’t (for the most part) take place in the French Quarter these days (due to the combination of large floats and narrow streets) many outside of the region even forget that they are a big part of the festivities.

However, locals and die-hard Mardi Gras fans never forget it. Every Mardi Gras comes with over 50 parades in the region, most of them in the immediate greater New Orleans (GNO) area. They range in size and include such famous Krewes as Rex, Zulu, Morpheus, Orpheus and Endymnion.

With the parade schedule about to start in earnest for the 2009 year, I felt it worthwhile to go over some general tips and tricks beyond the ones you find in most parade maps and calendars.

If you want to enjoy parades like a local, here is what you need to know.

Some Quick Background

Mardi Gras parades are put on by krewes (pronounced the same as crews for those with no clue). Krewes are local social clubs and charities that organize and fund these parades as well as some other, smaller events.

The privilege of joining a krewe and riding a float is not an easy one to obtain. Not only are most krewes secretive and difficult to join (need to know someone kind of thing) but the fees are high. After all, these parades aren’t cheap. This secretiveness is furthered by the fact that most krewes require their riders to wear masks while on the floats. Meaning you might know someone on a particular float in a parade, but not be able to tell them apart.

Finally, most krewes elect kings and queens to head up the parade for the year. These are, with most krewes, elected members from within the organization. Some also elect grand marshals and these tend to be either well-known celebeities (with the larger krewes) or local figures (with the smaller ones).

Beyond that, the parades are pretty simple, with floats, marching bands and other oddities. However, what separates a carnival parade from most other parades you’ll go to is one word: Throws. Beads, dubloons, spears, coconuts and more are tossed with reckless abandon to the waiting crowd, which vies to get the most and the best each parade has to offer.

Which Parades to Go To

With so many parades, even if you live in the city, have no job and no social life, you can’t see them all in one year. Many directly overlap in starting times, just taking place along different routes.

You have to make decisions about which parades to attend and it isn’t easy, especially for someone new to Mardi Gras.

Typically though, there are two strategies:

• The Uptown Strategy: Most of the “major” parades happen along the uptown route and the route is very busy during carnival season. During the entire week before Fat Tuesday, the uptown route hosts multiple parades. Tourists and some locals, wanting to catch a Zulu coconut or see the Rex parade, stick to this route almost exclusively. The drawback however is that the route is very crowded, finding a good spot is almost impossible if you don’t arrive very early and once you are on the parade route, it is hard to leave. If you wish to go to the French Quarter or even home, you’ll likely find it hard to go anywhere else.
• The Regional Strategy: Of course, uptown is far from the only parade route. Metairie, West Bank and Slidell all have very active parade schedules, especially during the middle and beginning parts of the season. These routes are usually much less crowded, many even bring lawn chairs, and the parades are usually still very good. Also, though there aren’t as many famous throws (no Zulu conconuts), beads and dubloons are still plentiful. During one running of Cleopatra, Crystal and I caught 85 lb of beads, which we donated to nursing homes across the state.

For the most part, I think you get a better parade experience hitting up the regional parades and steering clear of the uptown parade route, especially as it gets closer to Fat Tuesday. However, if you’re a tourist that wants to see the big parades, you pretty much have to go uptown, just be sure to get there early and study the parade route to make sure you don’t trap yourself.

Attending the Parade

Everyone has their own system for picking a good parade spot. If you’re attending one that is not on the uptown route or is earlier in the season, this isn’t as important, but it is still a good idea to check a few things before you set up camp.

First, make sure there’s nothing over head that would tangle up throws. No balconies, no trees, no powerlines, etc. This makes sure that riders on the top row can throw to you easily.

Second, riders tend to be more conservative with their throws at the beginning of the route, picking a spot nearing the middle you can likely catch them as they try to unload before they have to take it home themselves. I even know some that actually intercept the floats after they park to get the leftovers.

Finally, I tend to favor spots along curves (the spot along Cleopatra was in a curve). Floats have to slow down for these as they do not turn easily. Thus, if you’re along a curve, especially the inside, you get a bit more “face time” with the riders and other parade goers seem to skip on these spots for reasons unclear to me.

Once you’ve picked your spot, you have to learn the art of getting rider’s attention. It’s actually pretty easy. Though tradition and a million different TV specials tell you to yell “Throw me something mister!” that is typically only uttered by drunk women about to be carried either to the hotel or a jail cell.

No, you’re better off screaming “Over Here!” and waving your arms frantically. Or, you can just look odd and out of place. Wear a strange shirt, if it’s a night parade bring something that glows in the dark, bring a silly hat or an obnoxious sign (so long as you don’t block the view of others.

If you stand out, you get throws. It’s that simple. Of course, if you’re the only people around for a few dozen feet, you’ll find yourself literally dodging the beads.

On that note, it is important to make eye contact with the riders and watch for the throws. The laws of physics do not favor your skull when it has beads hurled at them. Remember, riders will not be throwing beads just one at a time, I’ve “caught” a 144 bag of beads once before (and by caught I mean it nearly broke my wrists and landed on the ground in front of me).

Finally, for the love of Mardi Gras, don’t flash. The parades are the family friendly portion of Mardi Gras, especially the day ones. Flashing may be acceptable in the French Quarter but good parents bring their kids to the parades. Let’s keep it somewhat clean.

Random Tips

Here’s some quick random advice that didn’t fit in any of the above categories:

• Riding a Float: If you’re desperate to ride a float and aren’t a part of a krewe, most krewes, especially since Katrina, accept “guest” riders. These riders pay a very large amount and have to purchase a huge amount of beads. Some krewes will cost guest riders well over $1000 for the privilege to ride. However, if this idea is just now dawning on you, best to wait until 2010. Most guest rider deals are done months before now.
• Mardi Gras World: If you want to see the floats but either aren’t in town during Carnival season or don’t want the hassle of the parades, visit Mardi Gras World (Warning: Music). Blaine Kern and his production team make many of the floats for the major krewes and offer tours of their facilities most days. You can visit their current location on the west bank by hopping onto the Algiers/Canal St. Ferry but keep in mind that the tour facility is moving in a month to a new location on the east bank side of the river.
• Krewe Du Vieux: If you’re in town early during Carnival, you need to catch the Krewe du Vieux (KdV). They are both the most traditional and least traditional of all the season’s parades. Most traditional in that they roll through the French Quarter, use only mule-drawn floats, have very scarce throws (I never get more than a pocketful) and focus more on personal interaction with the crowd. They are the least traditional in that they are a parody parade, created to lampoon the other krewes as well as New Orleans/Louisiana politics. The KdV is a favorite among locals but bear in mind that this is NOT a kid-friendly parade, with raunchy themes, sexually explicit floats and some vulgar costumes. They shock, they offend, they pock fun and they have a good time. It’s that simple.

Conclusions

For the most part, the parades are a great way to have a family-friendly time during Mardi Gras. It’s a great activity for adults and children alike and an essential part of the holiday that everyone can take part in. Best of all, it’s the easiest way to go home with a trunk full of beads and throws.

Just remember to keep your head about you, be safe and have fun. Follow all the basic rules of safety in a crowd, don’t cross any guardrails and listen to the nice police officers.

Everyone’s here to have a good time, let’s not lose sight of that.