Krewe of Nyx

Final Big Weekend of Mardi Gras 2017 Approaches!

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We’re in the lull now, the two days before the 5 days of all out parades, parties and Carnival revelry. Had a great time at the parades this past weekend, and caught some cool throws. 

   Thongs Throw! Weird Throw!

 

 

2nd Weirdest Throw Caught this Weekend

 

Parades start again tomorrow with Druids and NYX. NYX has worked hard to establish their own icon throw, similar to the Krewe of Muses Shoe and the Zulu Coconut. The NYX Purse is a hand decorated purse or small hand bag. Their krewe has grown substantially the last few year as their parade presence has grown. Looking forward to their parade tomorrow night.

NYX Purse

 

Working on my purple, green and gold costume for Fat Tuesday. Always celebrate Fat Tuesday in the official colors of Mardi Gras. Though Blaine Kern Artists remain the largest of the float builders, Royal Artists is my personal favorite. I catch Zulu on Jackson Avenue, then head to Harmony and St. Charles for REX. After REX I follow the truck parades downtown, and meet my girlfriend Sue Repasky. We ate at Mandina’s later that afternoon, and it was very good.

I’ve been in New Orleans for a long time, now, and I’m excited about Mardi Gras like I was brand new to it. There is something about the combination of bands, floats, crowds, ambiance, friends, family, and tradition that makes me very happy.Happy Mardi Gras!

FIRST WEEK OF MARDI GRAS PARADES PHOTO ESSAY!!

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#MardiGras. NYX throws include Ear Buds, Light Up Beads, Ruler. blanket, King Cake Bracelet, Koozie, Temporary Tattoos, and more.

#MardiGras. NYX throws include Ear Buds, Light Up Beads, Ruler. blanket, King Cake Bracelet, Koozie, Temporary Tattoos, and more.

Cup Girl!

Cup Girl!

Sparta Duke!

Sparta Captain!

Little Horn Guy

Little Horn Guy

 

Mardi House!

Mardi House!

Carrollton Flag!

Carrollton Flag!

 

High School Marching Band on St Charles Avenue

High School Marching Band on St Charles Avenue!

 

No masking in Orleans Parish parade

No masking during Orleans Parish parade!

 

Float and title don't match

Float and title don’t match, riders aren’t masked

 

Empty Freret Float

Empty Freret Float!

 

 

 

NYX Membership Growing By Leaps and Bounds!

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NYX Bag!

NYX Bag!

When a Carnival krewe’s membership grows by roughly 50% last year (actually this year), you might say they have captured the public’s imagination. It takes a big effort, ridership and budget to make a real splash on the St. Charles parade route. We have Bacchus, Muses, Orpheus, and Thoth with well over 1,000 members, and the biggest of all, Endymion, has just over 3,000 members. Now NYX has 2,232, making them the second biggest krewe. A super krewe is measured by more than membership. The parade counts a lot. They have a very original throw, the decorated, logoed woman’s purse. But they have no original floats yet, as they are building their first for 2016. You need super floats for super krewe status, so NYX won’t arrive on that level until they have a handful of icon, original floats owned by the krewe, and not just rented ones.

NYX, Greek Goddess of the NIght

NYX, Greek Goddess of the NIght

 

When you see the Bacchagator or the Jester Float, it’s exciting because you are witnessing two of the icon floats of all of Carnival around the world.

 

No Wonder They Are Growing- Their Purses Are Sublime!

No Wonder They Are Growing- Their Purses Are Sublime!

 

 

Rex Jester Float

Rex Jester Float

 

Blaine Kern Artists Created the Bacchagator

Blaine Kern Artists Created the Bacchagator

 

In Greek mythology NYX was the Goddess of Night. NYX stood at or near the beginning of creation and was one of the first elements emerging from Chaos along with day, fire, and water. Her appearances in mythology are sparse, but reveal her as a figure of exceptional power and beauty. NYX had prophetic powers, and gave oracles from her home at the edge of the cosmos. She mothered other personified deities such as Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death), with Erebus. She was older and more powerful than Zeus, who deferred to her wishes.

Each year the krewe visits the tomb of Marie Laveau, legendary Voodoo priestess, to ask for good weather for their parade. Laveau is buried in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1.

Marie Laveau Mausoleum in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

Marie Laveau Mausoleum in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

 

Carnival in New Orleans Begins in Earnest Today!!

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When Cleopatra and Oshun kick off on Friday evening, we launch the 10 day sprint known as Carnival in New Orleans. Krewe population trends varied around the metropolitan area, an interesting pattern to say the least. Orleans Parish organizations are growing by leaps and bounds, while Jefferson Parish saw several krewes fade away. I really cannot explain this development. The suburbs have been growing for decades as the city lost population. So why did Thor, Zeus and Atlas, three old Jefferson krewes with 140 years of parading history, cease marching?

Krewe of Cleopatra Logo

Krewe of Cleopatra Logo

In the past 17 years, 25 Carnival clubs have quit. The trend precedes Hurricane Katrina. In spite of the Orleans Parish parade moratorium, the Mystic Krewe of Femme Fatale received permission to ride this year on February 8. They will parade after the three previously scheduled parades. In Jefferson, the Krewe of Athena Carnival Club received a parade permit to follow Excalibur tonight.

Parade goers will have to come up with a new plan if they set up shop on certain neutral grounds and city street intersections this year. The Army Corps of Engineers’ drainage projects along Napoleon and Jefferson Streets will mess up lots of Carnival plans. Fences on the neutral grounds along Napoleon will severely limit parade watching.

According to Mark Romig, president of the New Orleans Tourism and Marketing Corporation, the 2015 season will be a busy one, with many area hotels already filled up between now and Fat Tuesday. However, the Quarter and downtown have suffered recently from bad publicity due to a rash of robberies and assaults.

Additional state troopers were deployed in the French Quarter in August after more negative publicity when a shooting on Bourbon killed one woman and injured several others. Those officers left the city after the 2015 Sugar Bowl was concluded even though the mayor asked Governor Bobby Jindal to extend their stay.

Now, State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson says he is working with New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu to extend their tenure. Plus, the tourism industry has ponied up $2.5 million to keep troopers here. That’s an impressive amount of money.

On a lighter note, the New Orleans Advocate is producing 14 full color Krewe Parade Bulletins for 2015. In 1886, the Krewe of Proteus became the first Carnival organization to present full color chromolithograph newspaper editions showing the float designs for it’s street pageant. Other krewes quickly followed suit, and these carnival editions or bulletins continued to be printed and sold on street corners for a dime until 1941.

1883 REX Parade Bulletin

1893 REX Parade Bulletin

This year, and this year only, Friday the 13th and Valentine’s Day fall on the weekend before Fat Tuesday. Several krewes will indicate this event via their float designs and throws.

For most of the last 150 years, New Orleans official reviewing stand for Mardi Gras parades has been historic Gallier Hall. That changed when a large piece of the facade fell off the building last year, closing the building for 2015.

2015 Orleans Parish Mardi Gras Parade Schedule!!

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We are roughly four months before Fat Tuesday. As we approach Halloween, the Mardi Gras drumbeats are getting louder. I’ve already heard a bunch from my own Carnival krewe, the Krewe du Vieux. We roll throughout the Marigny and French Quarter on January 31, 2015. I LOVE Mardi Gras and always have. Getting older hasn’t dulled my appetite for all things Carnival!

I used to see parades in all the surrounding parishes. I don’t anymore. I guess I don’t feel the need to dash around from parade locale to parade locale anymore. Seeing parades in Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes in a single night was no biggie. Seeing the same parade in different spots

Rex Jester Float

Rex Jester Float

Day Date Krewe Route
Sunday January 6, 2015 Phunny Phorty Phellows Uptown Streetcar Route
Sunday January 6, 2015 Krewe of Jeanne d’Arc French Quarter
Saturday January 31, 2015 Krewe du Vieux Marigny/French Quarter
Friday February 6, 2015 Krewe of Oshun Uptown
Friday February 6, 2015 Krewe of Cleopatra Uptown
Saturday February 7, 2015 Krewe of Pontchartrain Uptown – Napoleon
Saturday February 7, 2015 Krewe of Choctaw Uptown – Napoleon
Saturday February 7, 2015 Krewe of Freret Uptown – Napoleon
Saturday February 7, 2015 Knights of Sparta Uptown – Napoleon
Saturday February 7, 2015 Krewe of Pygmalion Uptown – Napoleon
Sunday February 8, 2015 Krewe of Carrollton Uptown – Napoleon
Sunday February 8, 2015 Krewe of King Arthur Uptown – Napoleon
Sunday February 8, 2015 Krewe of Alla Uptown – Napoleon
Sunday February 8, 2015 Mystic Krewe of Barkus French Quarter
Wednesday February 11, 2015 Krewe of Ancient Druids Uptown – Jefferson
Wednesday February 11, 2015 Mystic Krewe of Nyx Uptown – Jefferson
Thursday February 12, 2015 Knights of Babylon Uptown – Napoleon
Thursday February 12, 2015 Knights of Chaos Uptown – Napoleon
Thursday February 12, 2015 Krewe of Muses Uptown – Jefferson
Friday February 13, 2015 Krewe of Hermes Uptown – Napoleon
Friday February 13, 2015 Le Krewe d’Etat Uptown – Jefferson
Friday February 13, 2015 Krewe of Morpheus Uptown – Jefferson
Saturday February 14, 2015 Krewe of Iris Uptown – Napoleon
Saturday February 14, 2015 Krewe of Tucks Uptown – Napoleon
Saturday February 14, 2015 Krewe of Endymion Mid-City
Sunday February 15, 2015 Krewe of Okeanos Uptown – Jefferson
Sunday February 15, 2015 Krewe of Mid-City Uptown – Jefferson
Sunday February 15, 2015 Krewe of Thoth Uptown – Henry Clay
Sunday February 15, 2015 Krewe of Bacchus Uptown – Napoleon
Monday February 16, 2015 Krewe of Proteus Uptown – Napoleon
Monday February 16, 2015 Krewe of Orpheus Uptown – Napoleon
Tuesday February 17, 2015 Krewe of Zulu Uptown – Jackson
Tuesday February 17, 2015 Rex, King of Carnival Uptown – Claiborne
Tuesday February 17, 2015 Elks Krewe of Orleanians Uptown – Claiborne
Tuesday February 17, 2015 Krewe of Crescent City Uptown – Claiborne
Baby Kong, Krewe of Bacchus

Baby Kong, Krewe of Bacchus

Baccasaurus float from Bacchus parade at Mardi Gras World

Baccasaurus float from Bacchus parade at Mardi Gras World

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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