News and information from the New Orleans area
Posts tagged Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night Arrives; Carnival 2016 Kicks Off!!
0The Joan of Arc parade rolls in the French Quarter and the Phunny Phorty Phellows (PPP) down the St. Charles Streetcar line. The Phellows leave the Willow Streetcar Barn precisely at 7 pm and Joan of Arc parades downtown also at 7 pm. My own parade, Krewe du Vieux, rolls very early this year, since Fat Tuesday is very early, February 9.
The original PPP first paraded in the 19th-century. It followed behind REX on St. Charles Avenue on Mardi Gras Day and its symbol was an owl. In 1981, WYES Producer Peggy Scott Laborde and her husband Errol Laborde, along with their friends brought back the PPP name informally, tossing beads from a streetcar to herald the start of the Carnival season. Soon the streetcar krewe solidified and legitimized.
Joan of Arc parades in honor of St. Joan and New Orleans’ French cultural heritage. Here’s their route-
Joan of Arc Parade Route 2016
Twelfth Night is also the unofficial start of the King Cake season, which does seem to informally start before the New Year rolls around! A huge amount of King Cakes are sold through February 9, or Fat Tuesday 2016. Uber has gotten into the act, partnering with Haydel’s Bakery for the second year in a row. From 10 am to 2 pm on January 6, Uber app users just needed to ask for a King Cake instead of a car. Only traditional, unfilled King Cakes are available from Uber’s service.
In 3 weeks, my own krewe, Krewe du Vieux (KdV), rolls in the Marigny and French Quarter.
Marching in a parade is what living in New Orleans is all about. I’ve been in Krewe of Clones, Tucks, and now Krewe du Vieux. Mardi Gras is lots of fun as a spectator sport, but joining the parade changes things big time. The fun, comradeship and excitement of belonging to a Mardi Gras krewe cannot be beat. It’s a top drawer New Orleans experience.
From the KdV web site- The Krewe du Vieux was founded in 1987, born from the ashes of the fabled Krewe of Clones. The Clones began in 1978, based out of the Contemporary Arts Center. This ‘Art Parade’ became wildly popular for their imaginative and creative street performance art. By 1985, the Krewe of Clones had grown to 30 sub krewes and over 1,500 marchers. After the Clones imposed rules designed to create a respectable Uptown parade, Craig “Spoons” Johnson of the Krewe of Underwear and Don Marshall of Le Petite Theatre du Vieux Carre conspired to form a new parading Krewe. Their intent was to bring back parading in the French Quarter in the free-wheeling style of the Clones without myriad rules and expenses. Free from the constraints of decorum and reality, KdV was established as a official parade.
The next paragraph is from Wikipedia.com–
The Krewe du Vieux is perhaps simultaneously the most individualistic and the most traditional of all New Orleans parading krewes. It has no large tractor pulled floats like the larger krewes, using only old-style, small, human-drawn or mule-drawn floats interspersed with marchers on foot. It has no recorded music blaring from boom box trucks, for the Krewe du Vieux uses music only from live bands. The floats are handmade and decorated by members of the respective sub-krewes, often with themes satirizing local politics and customs, sometimes of a bawdy nature — in such aspects arguably closer to early-19th-century Carnival traditions than any other Krewe currently parading. The Krewe du Vieux is the only Krewe still allowed to parade through the French Quarter (other than some small walking Krewes on Mardi Gras Day); krewes with larger floats have been prohibited in the narrow streets of the old town since the 1970s.
Krewe du Vieux Mule
Happy Mardi Gras!!!
Phunny Phorty Phellows Ride Tonight!!
212 years
It’s Twelfth Night (Jan.6), the formal start of the 2013 Carnival Season! I hope that excites you, because it excites me! It is a short season this year, as Fat Tuesday is Feb.12. As of today, there are 37 days to Fat Tuesday!! Plus, the Super Bowl will be played in New Orleans on Feb.3. As I’ve written before, this means the parades will be split into two sections, with the nine day Super Bowl break occurring in the middle.
Twelfth Night is the start of the King Cake season, though the grocery stores put them out around New Years Day.
King Cake
YUM!! There are a million varieties of King Cakes today, we live in the true renaissance era of King Cakes. Here’s a fancy King Cake recipe from star chef Emeril Lagasse. When I first moved to New Orleans in the mid 1970s, the only type of King Cake was plain ones. Then McKenzie’s Bakeries, a local chain, produced the first filled King Cakes. Now, you can find almost any flavor possible. McKenzie’s is long gone, but their unique innovation lives on and on!
As for the PPP, or Phunny Phorty Phellows, their ride down St. Charles Avenue on a St.Charles Avenue Street Car occurs tonight.
From the PPP website: The modern organization was revived in 1981 by a small group of friends and Mardi Gras enthusiasts. It has continued without interruption to the present day. The PPP paraded with the Krewe of Clones from 1981 until 1986. In 1982 we also began a tradition of riding the streetcar line (in a streetcar) and proclaiming the arrival of the Carnival season on Twelfth Night. That is the night when the new Boss and Queen are chosen by the traditional King Cake method as well as the occasion of the sumptuous Coronation Ball. A “Carnival Countdown” take place right before the Phellows board the streetcar.
The Storyville Stompers is the official band for the Streetcar Ride and Benny Grunch and the Bunch play at the Coronation Ball.
Other innovations and features: Beautiful invitations and dance cards like 1800s by a series of royal artists: Beth Kesmodel, Hal Pluche, Jeanne Woods, Arthur Nead, and Kevin Barre.
Phunny Phorty Phellows 2009 Mardi Gras
My own Krewe of Underwear, part of the historic Krewe du Vieux, roll January 19, which is very exciting and probably a very cold evening. I’ll have to bundle up big time before rolling. I love the brass bands, the donkeys, the heavy ribald satire, and the route- we roll through the French Quarter and the Faubourg Marigny. There is no better place to be January 19 than at our parade or in it. Happy Mardi Gras to the World!!! Here’s our route-
2013 KdV Route
Twelfth Night 2011
014 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.