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2013 Parade Season Split in Two by Super Bowl!!!

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2012 Super Bowl Tickets

2012 Super Bowl Tickets, Indianapolis, IN

As was the case for Mardi Gras 2002 after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the 2013 parade season will be cut in two, with the first week of Carnival beginning Jan. 25 instead of Feb. 1. That will be followed by a nine-day break in parading as football fans, city officials, the tourism industry and police turn their attention to Super Bowl XLVII (47)

The Super Bowl is Feb. 3, and Mardi Gras 2013 falls on Feb. 12.

The parade season will pick up again after the big game. Traditionally, the official Carnival season consists of 12 consecutive days that culminate on Fat Tuesday.

A handful of Krewes must change their parading days to suit the new schedule.

Parades rolling on Friday, February 1, Oshun and Cleopatra, move to January 25. Parades rolling on Saturday, February 2, Pontchartrain, Sparta and Pygmalion, move to January 26. Parades rolling on Sunday, February 2, Alla, King Arthur, and Carrollton, move to January 27.

As a result of the schedule changes in 2002, some krewes had to scale back in size. The 11 krewes forced to change their schedules received financial compensation from the NFL. The details of the settlement were confidential, but the krewes asked for $550,000, or $50,000 per krewe. The NFL also paid the National Automobile Dealers Association $7.5 million that year to move its meeting to the Super Bowl’s original slot.

 

Krewe of King Arthur

Krewe of King Arthur

 

Schedule courtesy Tulane.edu.

2013 Orleans Only Parade Schedule

Day Date Krewe Route
Friday January 6, 2013 Phunny Phorty Phellows Uptown Streetcar Route
Friday January 6, 2013 Krewe of Jeanne d’Arc French Quarter
Saturday January 19, 2013 Krewe du Vieux Marigny/French Quarter
Friday January 25, 2013 Krewe of Oshun Uptown
Friday January 25, 2013 Krewe of Cleopatra Uptown
Saturday January 26, 2013 Krewe of Pontchartrain Uptown – Napoleon
Saturday January 26, 2013 Krewe of Choctaw (1 year only) Uptown
Saturday January 26, 2013 Knights of Sparta Uptown – Napoleon
Saturday January 26, 2013 Krewe of Pygmalion Uptown – Napoleon
Sunday January 27, 2013 Krewe of Carrollton Uptown – Napoleon
Sunday January 27, 2013 Krewe of King Arthur Uptown – Napoleon
Friday February 1, 2013 Krewe of Cork French Quarter
Sunday February 3, 2013 Mystic Krewe of Barkus French Quarter
Wednesday February 6, 2013 Krewe of Ancient Druids Uptown – Jefferson
Wednesday February 6, 2013 Mystic Krewe of Nyx Uptown – Jefferson
Thursday February 7, 2013 Knights of Babylon Uptown – Napoleon
Thursday February 7, 2013 Knights of Chaos Uptown – Napoleon
Thursday February 7, 2013 Krewe of Muses Uptown – Jefferson
Friday February 8, 2013 Krewe of Hermes Uptown – Napoleon
Friday February 8, 2013 Le Krewe d’Etat Uptown – Jefferson
Friday February 8, 2013 Krewe of Morpheus Uptown – Jefferson
Saturday February 9, 2013 Krewe of Iris Uptown – Napoleon
Saturday February 9, 2013 Krewe of Tucks Uptown – Napoleon
Saturday February 9, 2013 Krewe of Endymion Mid-City
Sunday February 10, 2013 Krewe of Okeanos Uptown – Jefferson
Sunday February 10, 2013 Krewe of Mid-City Uptown – Jefferson
Sunday February 10, 2013 Krewe of Thoth Uptown – Henry Clay
Sunday February 10, 2013 Krewe of Bacchus Uptown – Napoleon
Monday February 11, 2013 Krewe of Proteus Uptown – Napoleon
Monday February 11, 2013 Krewe of Orpheus Uptown – Napoleon
Tuesday February 12, 2013 Krewe of Zulu Uptown – Jackson
Tuesday February 12, 2013 Rex, King of Carnival Uptown – Claiborne
Tuesday February 12, 2013 Elks Krewe of Orleanians Uptown – Claiborne
Tuesday February 12, 2013 Krewe of Crescent City Uptown – Claiborne

Now I’m a member of Krewe du Vieux, and it really is a blast to be in a krewe. I love Mardi Gras from the street perspective, but belonging to a Carnival Krewe, that’s a whole other level of fun. We get to march in the historic French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny. Our super satiric, ribald floats are adults only. Our floats are pulled by donkeys and each float has it’s own brass band! The Hot 8 Brass Band was in front of us in 2012 and they kicked butt and I mean they kicked butt. The entire miles long route was an excuse for these brass warriors to take our entire Krewe of Underwear to a new party parade level, which energized the crowd as they passed.

Rolled with Krewe du Vieux Last Night!!

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KdV 2012 Party Poster

KdV 2012 Party Poster

Under the night sky and perfect weather, the fabulous, one of a kind, historic Krewe du Vieux rolled through the historic Marigny and French Quarter. My Krewe of Underwear, with a donkey pulling the float and a great brass band behind the float, joined the procession as float #6. Our krewe’s theme was “Bayou Beautox.”

2012 Krewe of Underwear Float, entitled Bayou Beautox

2012 Krewe of Underwear Float, entitled Bayou Beautox

Regular Mardi Gras parades in Orleans Parish are banned from the French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny since the 1970’s, their big tractors and super floats couldn’t allow emergency vehicles to pass freely around the Quarter.

I’m in a Parade Referee, meaning I’m supposed to stay sober and guard the floats. I keep parade watchers from joining the parade enroute; keep the crowds back while the parade rolls by; and report any medical or dangerous to parade management or police, depending on the situation. I’ve been doing this job for a number of years, and I’ve never had a drink while the parade is rolling and most years I don’t drink at all.

2012 PARADE BRASS BANDS

Lagniappe
Pinettes
Kinfolk
TBC
New Birth
Jazzmen
Bone Tone
Young Fellaz
Paulin Bros
Baby Boyz Brass Band
Stooges Brass Band
One Mind
Panorama
The Tornados
Free Agents
Treme Brass Band
Egg Yolk Jubilee
Hot Eight Brass band
Down and Dirty

The after party was a musical blast! The Brass Band Jam was unbelievable!!

Krewe du Vieux Doo
February 4, 2012
2830 Royal Street
Door opens at 9:00

With close to 1,000 total members, the parade has grown in popularity to the point that a new member can join only when another drops out. It rolled Saturday night through Faubourg Marigny and the French Quarter.

Drips and Discharges‘ 20th anniversary formed a large part of the design for this year’s float, with signs and photos recalling themes of parades past, including “Star Whores” and “Drips and Discharges Are Porn Again.”

For people in an occupation that can often be extremely stressful, the parade provides a creative outlet, subkrewe captain Eileen McKeown said, and a “chance to let our hair down and be a little crazy and forget about it all.”

Krewe du Vieux, now in its 26th year, takes great pride in its uniqueness. It alone, the nonprofit organization boasts on its website, “carries on the old traditions of Carnival celebrations, by using decorated mule-drawn floats with satirical themes, accompanied by costumed revelers dancing in the streets to the sounds of jazzy street musicians.”

This year, under the “Mutha” krewe theme of “Crimes Against Nature,” Drips and Discharges decided to take aim at a German automaker’s appropriation of the Superdome, now known as the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

“We thought it was a crime against nature that the Germans own part of New Orleans,” McKeown said of the “Benz Over” theme.

The Dome’s new name came as a surprise to most Orleanians last fall, overnight giving the city’s most famous building a new sign, a new name, a new sponsor and a gigantic light-projected symbol of the foreign automobile manufacturer.

“It’s just business,” said float captain Ellis Chappell, and not entirely unexpected. But nothing is off limits for Krewe du Vieux when it comes to poking fun at the year’s happenings. “If some happy little German company gives you $10 million you go for it,” said Chappell, who, alongside his son Reed, a comic-book artist, spent a week carving a “Superdome with ass cheeks” out of styrofoam for the float.

Chappell said the Drips’ theme meetings are “fueled by pitchers of mojitos,” and the ideas get better with each pitcher.

Krewe members Saturday night wore lederhosen and plastic butt hats and carried staffs topped with the Mercedes-Benz symbol.

McKeown, a physician recruiter, joined Aiken and approximately 30 others in Drips’ 1993 founding march. She said her favorite part of the night is when she hears the opening beats of the brass bands, 19 in total, at the start of the parade. “Your adrenaline starts rolling and never stops,” she said.

Other satirical “Crimes Against Nature” themes included the Krewe of Comatose’s “Dollar General Hospital,” aimed at the leveling of a Mid-City neighborhood for new hospitals; the Krewe of Rue de Bourbon’s “We Are the 1 Percent”; and the Krewe of Underwear’s “Bayou Beautox.”

Also in the lineup were several apocalypse-related themes, including the Krewe of C.R.U.D.E’s (Committee to Revive Urban Decadent Entertainment) “HEY a-POCKY-lypto WAY,” featuring the 2012 Mayan Calendar girls.

City to Hold Vendor Permits Lottery for Mardi Gras Parade Routes

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The city will hold its annual lottery for Mardi Gras fixed location permits, on Feb 10 at 1:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Civil District Court Building.

For the vendors, Mardi Gras season officially starts Feb. 25 and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Fat Tuesday, March 8.

Vendors will be permitted to sell items two hours before the start of a parade and two hours after the parade ends.

There are 37 fixed locations, some with space for more than one vendor, along the city’s traditional parade routes. Citizens interested in obtaining a permit for these locations must register for the lottery with the Bureau of Revenue between January 31 and February 4.

All participants must submit a lottery registration card and a $1,000 sales tax deposit in the form of a certified check or money order made payable to the City of New Orleans. Registration cards may be picked up at City Hall, 1300 Perdido St., Room 1W14, or can be found online.


Twelfth Night 2011

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I  bought two King Cakes in the last 24 hours, both strawberry, one from Rouses and one from Winn Dixie this AM for the wife’s work. Both grocery chains make their own King Cakes by the thousands during the season. The small filled King Cake sells for $7.69-7.79 at the two stores. Unfilled small King Cakes retail for around $5.59 or so.

King Cake - YUM!!- photo- befitnola.com

King Cakes are HUGE in New Orleans. From January 6 until Mardi Gras Day, March 8, 2011- this is a very late date, almost the latest date possible. The weather should be warm for Fat Tuesday 2011. This allows for over 2 months from January 6 until March 8. All this time is King Cake  time!! NOLA King Cakes feature more sugar than most.

Historically, King Cakes have been around Europe for centuries before New Orleans was settled. We had plain King Cakes for a long long time in NOLA. Then McKenzie’s Bakeries started filling their King Cakes, and charged like $9.95 for a Medium filled one. This was back in late 1970s as I recall.

Pretty soon, filled King Cakes had created a whole new King Cake Economic Model, based on a more expensive King Cake. Then the Mail Order Model was created, and hundreds of thousands of King Cakes started being shipped worldwide.

Who makes the best filled and unfilled King Cakes in the NOLA metro area?  There are a lot of entrants, since the shipping/local markets have exploded over the last

http://bit.ly/emh7cl is a King Cakes of the World article I found while researching this post. The blog is entitled- A Malaysian in France. Here’s an European King Cake:

Northern France King Cake

2009 PPP

Tonight the Phunny Phorty Phellows take a decorated, historic St. Charles Streetcar down St. Charles Avenue from the Willow Street Car Barn onto Carrollton Avenue then down St. Charles to Lee Circle, where the Streetcar turns down Carondelet Street to Canal Street, turning on Canal to St. Charles  Avenue, all the way back to Carrollton Avenue and the Willow Street Car Barn. They are accompanied by New Orleans own Storyville Stompers.

I’m a huge fan of the PPP, as they have a creative solution to float building. They take an already build historic street car, and decorate that! I’ve caught them for years on St. Charles. Cannot wait to catch them tonight.  Happy Mardi Gras to the World! Go Saints! Who Dat Who Dat Who Dat!!!

Why all the Who Dats? Saints play their first playoff game defending their World Championship Win this Saturday against the Seattle Sea Hawks- Jan 8, 2011. Sat 1:30 PM, Seattle,WA Qwest Field

I’ve loved King Cakes for many years. Over the decades, I’ve preferred various types as they are developed.


Chilly Carnival Season Forecast

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February 2010 Blizzard up North Brrrr!!

The Northeast USA has gotten a lot of snow again, and eventually that cold air finds its way to the deep South. The next week will be frigid in New Orleans, and that means a COLD Mardi Gras.  Here’s a link to the National Weather Service Forecast Office Baton Rouge/New Orleans Mardi Gras Climatology Chart. It’s a pretty nifty chart, with a lot of good condensed data about weather trends on Fat Tuesday. This year Fat Tuesday is February 16, 2010. For the big Second Carnival Weekend, February 13 & 14, nights in the 30s and days in the 50s are forecast.

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