Mardi Gras 2016, Day 1

Caroline, Kelly and I post-Endymion

One of my favourite places to go is New Orleans. My sister lives driving distance away and she made me fall in love with the city. Since the first time I went, I've gone back at least once a year. Latley, that has been for Mardi Gras

Here's a breakdown of how Mardi Gras works:

Parades start almost a month before Fat Tuesday, but the main event is Carnivale, or the week leading up to Fat Tuesday. The word "mardi" is French for Tuesday, hence "Fat Tuesday" or "Mardi Gras." Since "samedi" means Saturday, that day is "Samedi Gras," and "lundi" is Monday, that is "Lundi Gras." 

What I wore... you can't see it, but my leggins are a starry night sky with a bit of an ombre. My badass fanny pack also glows in the dark! I also apologize in advance for how blurry some of these pics are. It gets pretty crazy out there!

Each groupe that parades is called a krewe. Typically, Krewe of Muses rolls on Thursday Night, Krewe of Endymion rolls on Saturday night, Krewe of Bacchus rolls on Sunday night, Krewe of Orpheus rolls on Monday night, and Zulu rolls on Tuesday morning. Those are my favourite parades to go to. Unfortunately, I couldn't get out in time to catch Muses this year, but you will see the others in the next few blog posts.

Each krewe is known for something, and they play that up as their signature for Mardi Gras. One thing you should know is Mardi Gras is completely not politically correct. It pokes fun at that. Each krewe throws the typical beads, stuffed animals, koozies, and bags but they also throw thier signature item. So, Muses (the oldest all-female krewe) throws a crazy decorated and sometimes bedazzled shoe. Zulu (an all male, all black krewe) throws painted coconuts. It is an honour to catch these things. I have yet to catch a shoe or a coconut, but I have caught a purse from Nyx (the only other all-female krewe). You should also know that you DO NOT flash anyone for throws. You can actually be arrested for that, unless you're on Bourbon St. (although during Mardi Gras you should stay away from the French Quarter all together) You simply say "Throw me something Mister!" or "Hey Mister, throw me a koozie!" if you want something specific. 

Everyone on the float must wear a mask, by law. These guys had bunny ears to go with their masks!

On Saturday, we landed in the afternoon and of course, the first stop was to get a daiquri. From there, we went straight to the AirBnB to get ready to parade. I typically like to stay near Tulane and Loyola, partly because I know that area best, partly because it's beautiful, partly because there is a lot there, and partly because it's easy to get to other places.

My sister and her family drove in to go to Endymion with us. This was the first time I met my neice! It was so much fun to see them.

Endymion is a super krewe. They have the longest parade by far, with around 36 floats. Each parade picks their own theme to have floats that go with it. Usually there's a marching band or dance groupe in-between the floats.

 One of the high school bands had fun and started dancing while they played. 

We were pretty beat from flying in (and from our friend's birthday party continuing late into the night before), so right after Endymion we turned into pumpkins to parade another day.

 I drew stars on my face to go with my "galaxy" theme.

Photographed by: Caroline Riech & myself