News and information from the New Orleans area
Posts tagged Mardi Gras
Tickets to Intercontinental Hotel Stands on Sale for Mardi Gras 2011
015 years
| Stands are raised tier platform type with no seating. No reserved spots – first come first serve basis. No refunds rain or shine. No ice chests, chairs, strollers or smoking allowed on stands. Hotel Management reserves the right to remove anyone from the Stands. All children under 12 to be accompanied by an adult at all times. Opening times for Stands may vary dependent upon parade delays.
Krewe of Oshun Krewe of Pontchartrain, Knights of Sparta & Krewe of Pygmalion Krewe of Pontchartrain – single parade Knights of Sparta & Krewe of Pygmalion – only
Krewe of Carrollton & Krewe of King Arthur Krewe of Babylon, Knights of Chaos & Krewe of Muses Krewe of Hermes, Le Krewe d’Etat & Krewe of Morpheus Krewe of Iris & Krewe of Tucks only Krewe of Endymion only Mardi Gras Parade Package Saturday Day & Night Parades Krewe of Okeanos, Krewe of Thoth & Krewe of Mid-City only Krewe of Bacchus only Mardi Gras Parade Package Sunday Day & Night Parades Krewe of Proteus & Krewe of Orpheus Mardi Gras Day: Krewe of Rex, Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, Krewe of Elks & Krewe of Crescent City Mardi Gras Day Buffet |
Twelfth Night 2011
015 years
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.
Shangri-La Gives Up the Ghost!!
015 years
Krewe of Shangri-La Crest
Sad day indeed when the former mighty Queens of St. Bernard Mardi Gras, the Krewe of Shangri-La, ceases to exist as a parading Krewe!
My family had a real blast during Shangri-La’s heyday in St. Bernard, with over 1,000 Krewe members riding in a huge parade with around 38 units. I’m talking about the mid 1980s, when the Krewe was at their mightiest. By 1982, Shangri-La was the largest woman’s organization in the history of Carnival in New Orleans.
In another Mardi Gras life, I would see around 40 parades per season. I had my own crazy Mardi Gras posse- My wife Meg, her daughter Sharon, Sharon’s friend Tara, Tara’s brothers Hank and Eddie and Eddie’s friend Bruce. We’d go see the parades in New Orleans very early, then hit St. Bernard, or Metairie, which had more parades in the 80s. We’d go to Slidell, the West Bank, anywhere to catch a local parade. We’d catch some parades at the start, some in the middle, and some at the end. Fun, fun, fun was had by all.
We used to watch Shangri-La twice, once on St Bernard Highway, and then on Judge Perez Drive. You catch way more throws that way.
One year I took the Posse out to St. Bernard for the then fabulous Shangri-La. On the way out, the skies opened up and it began to rain cats and dogs. We persevered, as did the parade. It was warm that evening, we were young, and didn’t mind getting soaked to catch a few beads.
The parade crowd dissipated, and the route was almost devoid of any spectators. The krewe noticed we were almost the only folks out watching, and they dumped throws on us to show their appreciation. That is my wettest Mardi Gras Parade story, and I’ll never forget how generous the krewe was that night. It was the most throws we ever caught, and just about the most fun our posse ever had at the parades.
Shangri-La started in 1973 and paraded in Chalmette until 2000, when they moved to uptown to St. Charles Avenue. The krewe started admitting men into their ranks at this time.
St. Bernard was especially hard hit during Hurricane Katrina 5 years ago, receiving almost 25 feet of water, the most in the Metro Area. The population was slow to return, which severely impacted Shangri-La’s membership. Many members returned for the parade from out of town. 2 years ago, the krewe adjusted to the diminished membership by successfully transforming the street parade into a French Quarter carriage parade.
In 2010, a 45 unit parade ushered in Mardi Gras on the eve of Super Bowl 44. This was a very exciting time in New Orleans, and their final French Quarter stroll was fun.
During a July meeting, the Shangri-La Board voted unanimously to become a Social Club and continue their philanthropic plans. After 37 years, the once fabulous Shangri-La Carnival Club ceases parading. They live on the web at Krewe of Shangri-La.
Zulu coconut lawsuit thrown out on appeal
116 years
Yes, Mardi Gras parade goers still sue even though most locals and many tourists know that you cannot sue from being hit by a throw in New Orleans in almost all cases.
Daisy Johnson Palmer, a 74-year-old retired Orleans Parish public schoolteacher, wants the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club to pay for the bloody cut, and ensuing trauma, she says came from a coconut lobbed in her direction Feb. 28, 2006, as Zulu paraded down Canal Street.
Four years later, though, a Louisiana appeals court tossed out her case after finding that her claims of trauma from a hollowed-out Zulu coconut thrown underhanded into the French Quarter crowd didn’t merit a trial at Orleans Parish Civil District Court. Palmer’s attorney, Edwin Fleischmann, said he is awaiting the final decision from the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Zulu’s rules say that the throwing of coconuts is “positively forbidden,” as is tossing any throws to the rear of a float. In 2004, Vice president Naaman Stewart was one of Zulu’s most vocal advocates for the adoption of a lightweight coconut, hollowed-out, shaved coconuts purchased in bulk from a Vietnam supplier and shipped to New Orleans where members decorate & paint them. An average store-bought coconut filled with milk & meat can weigh up to 1 1/2 lbs.
2010 Muses Parade Review
216 years
Muses Title Float 2010
When you are number 1* other Krewes come gunning for you. The top krewes all compete like Olympians for the best floats, costumes, and throws. The other krewes may specialize in one aspect of a parade, that’s all the money they have after their membership has fallen after Hurricane Katrina & Rita plus the recession. They may have better floats, or throws, or great costumes.
Muses has satirical floats; the best throws by a mile; the most unique marching groups except for Krewe du Vieux; and an abundance of great bands. Unfortunately, because of Muses 2010 parade rescheduling, some bands were forced to drop out. However, some of the bands had no other commitments during the new Muses time and rolled with the krewe.
Here’s a mostly complete list of Muses 2010 throws, each of these have the Muses Logo- Shoe Bracelet, Seed glass beads, Strobe Theme Light Up Bead, Muses Ivy Bead, Shoe Necklace, Shoe Bead, Historic Shoe Bead, Diamond Ring, Puffy Key Ring, Disco Ball Necklace, Flashlight Bottle Opener Bead, Acrylic Shoe Necklace, a variety of Muses plush, Re-usable Muses Tote, Plush Cupid’s Arrow, Rhinestone Bracelet, Glitter Heart Tattoo, Can Koosie, Sleep Mask, Glitter Frisbee, Muses 10 Ball, Muses Patterned Bead Bag, Cloisonne Doubloon
Muses is the most feminine of all parades, the only other feminine parade being Iris, which has many men riding with them. All the floats show a feminine point of view to a large extent. There’s around 800 women in Muses (with a waiting list almost as large). Muses throws all types of spangled, wildly decorated shoes- high heels, boots, sandals, stilettos. Mid City could be considered a feminine parade because of the foil; however, I consider foil gender neutral
Muse’s personalized throws from the last couple of years, (incomplete list): over-sized logo powder puff, working lava lamp key chain, Muse comic book ( “SuperMuse”), full size decorated woman’s shoes, shoe medallion bracelets, roller skate medallions, Muses LED-Fan, Muses glitter stick-on fashion accessory, lighted shoe medallions, Muses Night Fever (parade theme), lighted medallion, plastic crystal lighted heart medallion, soft spear, headband, disco ball medallion, song spoofs and lyrics booklet, regular logo beads, and more. Here’s a link to a really cool youtube video we shot of a 2009 Muses LED-FAN throw. According to the Captain, the 2010 Muses threw a record 30 different items with their logo on them. Here’s a description of the Muses shoe decoration process by a Krewe member:
All year, we collect gently worn specimens — from friends, thrift stores and garage sales — then get together for Glittering Parties, where the wine and the glitter flow like … well, like wine and glitter are supposed to. Groups of gals sit around tables set up in dining rooms, garages or basements, laughing and gossiping as our fingers fly, applying white glue and ultra-fine glitter to one area of a shoe at a time, then letting it dry while we work on the rest of our stash. Once a whole shoe is glittered and the glue has dried, it’s time for a trip to the hot glue station, where jewels, sequins and other assorted gewgaws are applied to the sparkly creations. As a finishing touch, each shoe is “autographed” with the word “Muses”, painstakingly applied with more glue and glitter or with cut-up bits from signature beaded necklaces from Mardi Gras past.
Fabulous Muses shoe collection, photo by reeldrlaura
Muses Chivalry Float 2010
Muses Fiber Optic High Heel Sculptures 2010
Flying Elvi Group in Muses 2010 Parade
His Hers prop in Muses 2010
* Carnival New Orleans News Parade of 2009