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Mardi Gras - February 16th, 2010

Mardi Gras
Click on the Krewe to see a map of the parade route!

*The following are the projected 2010 parade dates based on 2009 info.

Tuesday, Jan. 6
Phunny Phorty Phellows - Uptown Streetcar, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 23
Claude - Slidell, 1:00 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 24
Slidellians - Slidell, 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 30
Bilge - Slidell, Noon
Krewe Du Vieux - French Quarter, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 31
Little Rascals - Metairie, 11:00 a.m.
Perseus - Slidell, 1:00 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 5
Oshun - Uptown, 6:00 p.m.
Pygmalion - Uptown, 7:00 p.m.
Atlas - Metairie, 7:30 p.m.
Excalibur - Metairie, 7:00 p.m.
Cleopatra - Westbank, 6:30 p.m.
Eve - Mandeville, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 6
Pontchartrain - Uptown, 1:00 p.m.
Shangri-La - French Quarter, 2:00 p.m.
Sparta - Uptown, 6:00 p.m.
Pegasus - Uptown, 6:45 p.m.
Caesar - Metairie, 6:00 p.m.
Choctaw - Westbank, 11:30 a.m.
Adonis - Westbank, Noon
Olympia - Covington, 6:00 p.m.
Mona Lisa & Moon Pie - Slidell, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 7
Carrollton - Uptown, Noon
King Arthur - Uptown, 1:15 p.m.
Barkus - French Quarter, 2:00 p.m.
Rhea - Metairie, 2:30 p.m.
Centurions - Metairie, 5:30 p.m.
Alla - Westbank, Noon
Nemesis - Chalmette, 2:00 p.m.
Dionysus - Slidell, 1:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 10
Ancient Druids - Uptown, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 11
Babylon - Uptown, 5:45 p.m.
Muses - Uptown, 6:15 p.m.
Chaos - Uptown, 6:30 p.m.
Thor - Metairie, 7:00 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 12
Hermes - Uptown, 6:00 p.m.
D'Etat - Uptown, 6:30 p.m.
Morpheus - Uptown, 7:00 p.m.
Orpheus - Mandeville, 7:00 p.m.
Selene - Slidell, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 13
NOMTOC - Westbank, 10:45 a.m.
Iris - Uptown, 11:00 a.m.
Tucks - Uptown, Noon
Endymion - Mid-City, 4:15 p.m.
Isis - Metairie, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 14
Okeanos - Uptown, 11:00 a.m.
Thoth - Uptown, Noon
Mid-City - Uptown, 1:45 p.m. 
Bacchus - Uptown, 5:15 p.m.
Napoleon - Metairie, 5:30 p.m.
Lundi Gras: Monday, Feb. 15

Proteus - Uptown, 5:15 p.m.
Orpheus - Uptown, 6:00 p.m.
Zeus - Metairie, 6:30 p.m.

Mardi Gras: Tuesday, Feb. 16
Zulu - Uptown, 8:00 a.m.
Rex - Uptown, 10:00 a.m.
Elks Orleans - Uptown, after Rex
Crescent City - Uptown, after Elks
Argus - Metairie, 10:00 a.m.
Elks Jefferson - Metairie, follows Argus
Jefferson Trucks - Metairie, follows Elks
Grela - Westbank, 11:00 a.m.
BES - Westbank, Noon
Lions - Covington, 10:00 a.m.
Covington - Covington, follows Lions
 
Mardi Gras
clown_float_150.jpgMardi Gras Day is always the day before Ash Wednesday, which as you know is different each year depending on the date of Easter Sunday.

Recipe for figuring the date of Mardi Gras Day:
*Start at Easter. As you know, the date of Easter can vary greatly.
*Forty days prior to Easter (not counting Sundays) is Lent. The first day of Lent is Ash Wednesday.
*The day before Ash Wednesday is Fat Tuesday – Mardi Gras Day, which is the final day of the Mardi Gras season.
*The official beginning of the Mardi Gras season is Jan 6, which is called Twelfth Night (12 days after Christmas). On that cold night, a krewe called Phunny Phorty Phellows has their drunken streetcar parade down St. Charles Ave.
*Most of the big parades start two Fridays before Mardi Gras Day. From this point on, parades will happen everyday until Fat Tuesday. See the schedule of parades for yourself at our Parade Schedule page.
Mardi Gras
mgh3.jpgMardi Gras started a long, long time ago, and at different times in different places. Early Christians only performed baptisms on Easter Sunday. So people would fast and pray before being baptized, and that tradition became Lent. Mardi Gras Day is on Tuesday because it is the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.

Human nature being what it is, people are inclined to go on a bender immediately before a period of deprivation, prayer, and fasting. Hence: Fat Tuesday. Christianity spread, and Lent spread along with it. My guess is that the next year after the first Lent, they wised-up and began celebrating Fat Tuesday also.


Early French history

For some reason, the French are famous for celebrating Fat Tuesday over the centuries. It must have something to do with their mix of wine, Catholicism, amorous French tendencies, the massive popularity of masking and satire during the French Renaissance.
Mardi Gras
krewemeghan3.jpgKrewe (pronounced crew) – noun: Any of several groups whose members organize and participate as costumed participants in the parades and balls during Mardi Gras.

In order to be a krewe, an organization must do all of the following:
(a) hold a parade which includes floats or bands
(b) have the celebration of Carnival as it's main purpose
(c) hold a ball

There are many Carnival organizations which are similar to krewes, but technically they are not. For example, there are many New Orleans based social clubs, Second Line clubs, the Mardi Gras Indians, marching clubs, other various other groups.

Mardi Gras
kitwohl_2006_king_cake_200.jpg

In New Orleans, the first week of January begins King Cake season, a traditional gastronomic prelude to the city's Mardi Gras celebrations. We bake our King Cakes in the Mardi Gras colors: purple, green and gold. They first appeared on the cakes after 1872, when the Rex Krewe selected those colors for its opening Mardi Gras parade. The colors come to stand for Mardi Gras and took on symbolic meanings: purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. Hidden in each oblong of braided coffee-cake dough is a bean or plastic baby; custom dictates that whoever finds it must give the next King cake party. And one Mardi Gras organization even uses a King cake tradition to choose the queen of its annual ball.


Mardi Gras

mask200.jpgCostumes are an integral part of Mardi Gras; from beads and feathered masks to detailed Louis XVI costumes, hand-made Mardi Gras Indian feathered suits, or a grown baby on flaming rollerskates. At Mardi Gras, it takes all kinds! Mardi Gras costuming has happened in festivals dating back to pre-Christian Rome. Today Mardi Gras continues as a raucous spring break for all ages, with costumes galore. Nowadays, we also have family-oriented parades during the daytime, so that the children of New Orleans are sheltered from adult costumes while also being indoctrinated in the traditions.

Mardi Gras

mgkid200.jpgMardi Gras is a child-friendly season everywhere in New Orleans besides Bourbon Street. Children watch the parades, hoot and holler and catch beads. Many parents modify ladders to be large high-chairs for their kids. After all, parades are great family entertainment - fanciful floats, marching bands, doubloons, riders on horseback, crazy costumes, and adults throwing beads, aluminum coins, and toys. They make for a great family outing where not only the kids can have a great time, but Mom and Dad can, too! Clearly it’s not Disneyland, and children should avoid Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras Day, but no major parades go through the French Quarter anyway. Major parades roll from the Garden District or Mid-City to Downtown.

Remember, tens of thousands of parents bring their children to Mardi Gras parades every year. Here are some tips to help you have a fun, safe Mardi Gras with the little ones:


Mardi Gras
There are two types of Mardi Gras parties – on the parade route or in another place. This section tells you how to throw a party if you can’t get to Napoleon, St. Charles, or Canal Street. Mardi Gras parties are simple. The required elements are people, food, drinks, music, decorations, and beads. You might make it a costume contest or have masks.
party_people
# 1 – People
Hopefully you’ve already got a group of people for the party. (If not, your best bet might be to trawl through the personals section.)
Mardi Gras
pete.jpgBall - A masked dance and party held by a krewe to celebrate Mardi Gras and introduce their royalty for the season. Some krewes have short variety performances based on that year’s theme.

Boeuf Gras – Literally “fat bull” in French. Since Fat Tuesday is the day before the beginning of Lent (when Catholics traditionally did not eat meat), this beast represents the last hurrah before plunging into asparagus, rice, and fish on Fridays. Up until 1909, the Rex parade walked a live bull through the streets. A paper mache version first appeared in 1959.

Captain - The leader of each Carnival group or organization.

Carnival - The season immediately before Lent, when people enjoy the sensual pleasures of life. Eating, drinking, dancing...the whole bit. The word is derived from Latin: Carne levare, levamen (Farewell to flesh).
Mardi Gras

mgpic_150.jpgYou’re so excited to be riding in your first Mardi Gras parade, but you have so many questions. Here are some hints from the Mardi Gras experts at MardiGrasSpot.com

Before the big day:

You will be COMPLETELY UNAVAILABLE for ANYTHING that ENTIRE day! TAKE OFF WORK! HIRE A SOLID BABYSITTER! KENNEL THE PETS! TELL EVERYONE NOT TO GET SICK, because between your krewe fees and dues, your throws and everything else, you are FINANCIALLY VESTED in what may be the greatest experience of your life!

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