News and information from the New Orleans area
New Orleans Carnival
What is the Real Spirit of Mardi Gras?
013 years
Robert Tallant on Left With Friends photo courtesy New Orleans Public Library
Robert Tallant, the New Orleans author, said it all- Mardi Gras is a spirit…an immortal one…as immortal as man’s ability to make believe, to escape the dreariness of the everyday life that is most men’s portion, to have fun, laugh and to play…Mardi Gras is very old, but it is also very young. It belongs to the past, yet also to the present and the future. The face it wears is not necessarily its last. It will exist in other forms, in other times, in other places. It would be wonderful if the clown in the grinning mask should appear on all the Main Streets of the world, if the blazing flambeaux and the rocking floats there could be a season or at least a day devoted to Laughter.
More on Robert Tallant photography here @ nutriasdotorg.
New Orleans Mardi Gras Revelers, 1905
Robert Tallant Photo of Mardi Gras Truck Maskers Courtesy New Orleans Public Library
A Group Of Maskers on Canal Street During Carnival New Orleans Postcard, 1914
The color photo above and the 1905 trio of Mardi Gras costumers above are from Tidbits, Trinkets and Images.
1930s Rex Parade from WPA Archives
Bad Manners on the Parade Route Part 2
013 years
I think Emily Gras was one of the coolest Mardi Gras events ever! This child was traumatized by stupid drunk parade goers, and after Mom blogs about it, BOOM! A group of Muses members along with some 610 Stompers and other marching groups invited Emily and her mom to the Muses Den for some first class treatment and a ton of great throws.
Krewe of Muses' Handmade Throw, the Stylish Shoe
A happy ending for this child, but there is a dark side to the Carnival parade world that received a lot of press due to this incident, including a big story on the front page of the Times-Picayune and TV news coverage by the local stations. The Huffington Post spread the story worldwide.
There is a huge amount of underage drinking at the parades. This has to be the biggest underage public drinking party in New Orleans. Kids don’t hold their liquor very well, leading to a lot of boorish parade behavior.
If you are handicapped or elderly, plenty of parade goers can’t wait to step in front of you for a better vantage point. They really don’t mean to block your view of the parade, they don’t think of that. They are just doing their thing at the Mardi Gras. My wife attends parades in her scooter. She’s the invisible woman, that’s our joke about how overzealous parade attendees treat her.
Then there’s the haughty krewe members and their exclusive throwing habits. They throw to the pretty young things on the parade route, and to children. If you are any age other than those two groups, most krewe members wouldn’t throw to you.
Muses members reported to me that as their parade has grown to super krewe status in the last few years, bigger crowds have turned out and bad manners on the parade route have grown exponentially. That makes the ultimate New Orleans experience, joining a krewe, not as much fun as it should be. In a perfect world, krewe members would be egalitarian but that doesn’t mean they will be. Booze may affect their judgement considerably. As the throws have become more exclusive, bad behavior seems to grow. Only the longest beads and the more exclusive throws count.
Reserving spaces on the neutral ground and side walks has developed into a fine art. Dozens of ladders with kiddie seats are set up right next to one another, making an impenetrable barrier. Huge tarps are used to hold big spaces as well. Though this behavior is not allowed by the police, they don’t enforce this at all.
In many respects, Mardi Gras in New Orleans is growing with many positive developments. The democratization of Mardi Gras means more people can get into krewes for less money.The greening of Mardi Gras is happening on many levels, from the green throws of the Giacona Company to the growing bead recycling effort and the ARC Recycling Parade Vehicle. VerdiGras is a Carnival Krewe dedicated a greener cleaner Mardi Gras.
ARC Bead Recycling Parade Vehicle
I’m very hopeful about the future of Carnival, but troubled by some of recent negative changes.
Observations on Carnival 2012!!
013 years
The just passed Carnival season was warm, with very little cold weather. It was the warmest season in long time. Next year Mardi Gras comes earlier, on February 12. That means the legendary Krewe du Vieux rolls January 19, 2013. That’s mighty early. I can’t wait!!
The warm weather helped to loosen up the masses, and the crowds were large uptown, downtown, by the Mississippi and the lake. Mardi Gras in New Orleans is very, very unique, like other Carnival celebrations around the globe.
Will Farrell as Bacchus!!
Lots of celebrities showed up to have some fun: Will Farrell (filming a movie locally), Cyndi Lauper, Huey Lewis, Mariska Hargitay, Bret Michaels, Patricia Clarkson, Maroon 5, Hillary Swank, and Harry Connick Jr, among others had a blast at the 2012 New Orleans Mardi Gras.
Three Headed Woman, 2012 St. Anne Procession
Zulu, REX, the trucks and Parade of St. Anne are just the big names in the truly million public and private events and parties in New Orleans on a Mardi Gras Day. Talk to any convenience store owner in any part of town and they wish every day was Fat Tuesday!! I noticed a smaller store in my neighborhood had more than half their stock sold on Tuesday.
NPR did a feature on Parade of St. Anne this year with commentator Andrei Codrescu.
There are many zenith points on Fat Tuesday. The French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny are one major zenith. When Zulu and Rex roll, that’s another zenith or two. All the Mardi Gras Indian Gangs, both uptown and downtown, are a big big zenith.
All around town, there are mini zeniths too numerous to count. Add all these little ones up, and you have the biggest zenith of all- the neighborhood combined zenith!
Throws are changing. Since the 1960s, the doubloon was king. Beads were much shorter and lighter, and glass beads from Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) were more plentiful. They were the most sought-after throw for decades. In the 1980s, the Giacona Container Company pioneered the logo, full color cup. Now, Giacona sells the krewes Green Cups. One of their big Mardi Gras clients is the School of Design, aka REX, King of Carnival.
St. Anne Costumes 2012
For 2012, beads were longer and heavier than ever before. Many lay on the parade route; people are looking for more unique throws. Short beads along with longer beads were the domain of the truck parades. A pack of 12 beads weighs a ton compared to the bead packs of the past. If you get hit in the head by a pack of the modern beads, it can hurt you seriously.
Bad Manners on the Parade Route!!
013 years
While hanging out on Napoleon Avenue this morning before NOMTOC, I witnessed a number of small incidents that depicted the competitive nature of parade watchers.
I watched this guy arrive this morning about 8 am. He set about searching for his stuff- chairs, table, etc. His belongings had been moved to the back of the neutral ground. When he realized that the folks who moved his stuff were not there, he moved his stuff back by removing the tarp that had replaced his stuff. He moved their tarp to the back of the neutral ground.
Immediately the neighbors started giving the man crap about moving the tarp, claiming the tarp was there before the guy’s stuff; he claimed he would never put his stuff onto someone else’s tarp!
Wall of Ladders on Parade Route for Mardi Gras
An hour passes, and the guy is still sitting in his chair. I notice that his car is right across the street, and NOMTOC is starting!! There are band units lining up to the left and right side streets. He calls over a friendly cop who helps him get out of his predicament. It takes about 20 minutes, and he finally gets off the parade route.
Within five seconds the vultures descend on the unguarded spot and discard the guy’s chairs, etc., re-institute their tarp and that’s it, our guy has lost the spot he held for 2 hours before the parades ever rolled on the historic longest day of parades ever.
Someone is not being truthful here, and that’s the real manners violation. These is Mardi Gras, and masking is all the hiding most people do. But some have other agendas that include fibbing to their fellow parade watchers to gain a better spot?
The second incident mirrors the first. A man and a woman had the same basic argument about who moved whose stuff, who was there first, etc. This must have occurred all over the parade route at different times and places.
St Charles Avenue Neutral Ground Before Parades Start
That’s where it crosses the line, and becomes anti-Mardi Gras. So where is the fun in that?
Saturday’s Parades Changing Days!
013 years
Update! Endymion will be foregoing the Canal Street loop because of inclement weather.
The threat of heavy rain and thunderstorms on Saturday evening has forced NOMTOC, Tucks and Iris to switch days to Sunday and Monday. Endymion and Chewbacchus are still planning to roll today. Depending on how the weather fares this afternoon, Endymion could switch to Sunday night, following Bacchus.
Libation Dispensing R2D2
Endymion on Canal Street!
As it stands now, NOMTOC and Iris will roll before Okeanos early tomorrow morning, and Tucks will roll before Proteus on Monday at 3 pm, followed by Orpheus.
Endymion has announced they plan to roll at 5:30 pm today on their traditional Canal Street route.