By DC Cueva
@DC408dxtr
With cold weather making its way across much of the U.S. over the course of the first few days of March, those who are anxious to excape the cold are ready to let loose in some of the biggest party destinations in the U.S., just as college students will start to think about spring break on the horizon. And the month of partying kicked off this weekend with the excitement and never-ending madness of Mardi Gras, and of course, New Orleans will be at the heart of it all as it's celebrates undoubtedly its biggest holiday, which reaches its peak today.
The Mardi Gras activities refer to the events surround the Carnival season, starting on or after the Epiphany or Kings Day, and climaxing on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is this week. The term Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the ritual of the last night of eating richer foods prior to the fasting of the season of Lent, which begins on that Wednesday. Sometimes the party Tuesday is referred to as Shrove Tuesday, deriving from the word "shrive," which is an adjective for "confess."
For a holiday as full of traditions as any other during the year, popular traditions including wearing masks & costumes, overturning traditional social conventions, dancing, parades and the like. In many places, Mardi Gras also refers to the whole period of activity related to the celebration in the days leading up to the big day on Tuesday. This festival season can vary depending upon which place you go to: some have it from Epiphany to Ash Wednesday, while others celebrate it just in the three days leading up to it. An example of this is in Mobile, AL, where Mardi Gras-related social events begin in November while most of us are in the lead up to the holiday season.
Mardi Gras might not be observed on a national basis here in the U.S., but that doesn't stop people in a number of cities and regions and those with French, Spanish and other related history from marking the Carnival holiday. The earliest Carnival celebrations in North America took place in March 1699 about 60 miles down the Mississippi River from New Orleans, while other earlier celebrations took place in Mobile, Biloxi and in Pensacola, FL. Thanks to having seen those decorations at the local Dollar Tree the other day, folks outside the South can also observe their own Mardi Gras celebrations.
Mobile is home to the oldest organized Mardi Gras celebrations, which took place in 1703, followed in 1830 by the first formally organized Mardi Gras parade. Their celebrations center around private social organizations called "mystic societies" that represent a fundamental part of the city's social and business life, and those societies organize the same type of events as their NOLA cousins, but whose parades go through downtown Mobile.
In Pensacola, they have much the same Mardi Gras celebrations as their fellow cities in the South, though it is more light-hearted and family-oriented. Biloxi, MS also hosts Mardi Gras events, and with their position along the Gulf Coast the city has looked to their celebrations as a way of rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Outside the South, other key Carnival celebrations take place in St. Louis, Portland, OR, Galveston, TX, and San Francisco in May.
And then, of course, there's the epicenter of America's Mardi Gras celebrations: New Orleans. NOLA's Carnival season begins after Twelth Night on Epiphany on January 6th, and it's a season of parades, balls (some of them masquerade), and king cake parties. But most of the celebratory activity is concentrated in the two week period before and through Fat Tuesday, falling before Ash Wednesday. The schedule typically calls for one major parade each day, weather permitting, with some of those days having several large parades. The largest and most elaborate parades take place in the last five days of the season, beginning on Friday. And during that last week of Carnival, many events, both big and not-so-big, take place throughout New Orleans, surrounding communities and into neighboring communities in the Deep South.
The parades in the Big Easy are organized by Carnival krewes, which are organizations that put on a parade or a ball during Carnival. Krewe float riders toss into the crowd those famous colorful plastic beads, dollar-sized coins called doubloons, decorated plastic cups and small toys. It's tradition for major krewes to follow the same parade schedule and route each year. But since the early '70s due to their narrow roads and obstructions from overhead, none of the major Carnival parades have entered the heart of the city's Carnival celebration and where many of the tourists spend their time in: Bourbon Street and the French Quarter. To remedy the situation, major parades start in the Uptown and Mid-City districts and follow a route along St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street near the French Quarter. And the parade routes along Uptown and in the Mid-City are family-friendly events for people of all ages to enjoy the parades.
Of course, those family gatherings pale in comparison to the craziness of the adult-only aspects of partying in exposing body parts, aka "flashing", as a way to buy those beads, which is frowned upon by the New Orleans police and can result in a ticket or arrest. And while it's become a growing trend for uninhibited young ladies to show those boobs even though it's been documented since 1889 - thanks mostly in part of those infamous commercial voyeur videos, it still only happens in Bourbon Street and the French Quarter.
The history of Mardi Gras in New Orleans is as old as Mardi Gras celebrations in the U.S., with its aforementioned origins taking place not far from the city. And while there were unofficial celebrations taking place annually starting in the 1700's, in 1856 a group of Creole businessmen gathered in the French Quarter to organize the city's first Krewe, The Mystic Krewe of Comus, and help observe Mardi Gras with a formal parade. Nearly 20 years later, Louisiana made Mardi Gras a legal state holiday, but two times has the city's Mardi Gras been affected by events larger than the celebration. in 1979 the New Orleans Police Department went on strike and a number of parades were either canceled or moved elsewhere in the area and significantly fewer visitors came to the city.
And of course, there was the 2006 celebrations six months after Katrina, when the devastation caused concern about what would happen to the celebrations. The essentially bankrupt city government pushed for a scaled back celebration to limit strains on services, but after hearing from krewes about them wanting to have their usual celebration, a compromise between Krewe leaders and city officials was reached to allow for a slightly scaled back celebration. That year, while major parades continued down their normal routes, some other parades were rerouted to avoid areas that had significant flood damage. Plus, as was the case in 1979, National Guard troops were deployed to help with crowd control, while the city placed time restrictions on parades. But even with most locals being affected by the events of those six months prior to Mardi Gras 2006, it became a sign of hope and a cause for celebration & rebirth for the people, one that still lingers today.
In the contemporary form, the New Orleans Carnival season starts up on January 6th when the Twelth Night Revelers, the city's 2nd-oldest Krewes, host a masked ball to kick off the season. But the action picks up the weekend before Mardi Gras when NOLA's population more than doubles with visitors from all over flying in for the extended weekend. Thursday night sees an all-female parade featuring the Krewe of Muses, where it is notable for throws featuring decorated shoes, and themes making a mockery of politicians and celebrties. Friday night is highlighted by three parades: the Krewe of Hermes, Krewe D'Etat (a satirical one) and Krewe of Morpheus, plus smaller neighborhood strolls to kick off the weekend. The weekend sees several daytime parades in Saturday and Sunday hosted by the Krewe of Tucks, Krewe of Isis, Okeanos Krewe of Mid-City and Thoth), followed by nighttime parades by the super krewes, Endymion on Satuday and Bacchus on Sunday - featuring celebrities.
Yesterday as we post this on Tuesday, March 4rd, it's Lundi Gras, or "Fat Monday." And on this Mardi Gras Eve, monarchs of the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club and Krewe of Rex arrived earlier today by boat on the Mississippi River at the foot of Canal Street for an all-day party. Uptown parades included one put on the 2nd-oldest & active Krewe and one of New Orleans' most prestigious organizations, the Krewe of Proteus; and the music-themed Krewe of Orpheus.
Then today, the Mardi Gras celebrations began early, starting uptown with the Zulu and Rex parades, followed by truck floats put on by smaller parade organizations, either in Uptown or on the outskirts of the city before entering the French Quarter. These include the Jefferson City Buzzards, Lyons Club, Irish Channel Corner Club, Pete Fountain's Half Fast Walking Club and the KOE, with a jazz band also included in the parades. Elsewhere, the Society of Saint Anne, Pair-O-Dice Tumblers and Mardi Gras Indians also parade into the area.
And what's the story behind the traditions Mardi Gras in New Orleans? The three traditional colors of purple, gold and green come to represent, in order: justice, power and faith, and were used by the Catholic Church throughout its history and have continued to be used as the tri-colors of the celebrations, which was catholic in its origin. For those famous costumes, they are rarely worn by those that aren't members of a Krewe in the lead up to Fat Tuesdays outside of parties, but of course are worn on the big day. Laws prohibiting the concealing of people's identities are suspended for the day, while banks are closed. And some businesses, convenience stores and other places that might be concerned about security post courtesy signs outside asking those who enter to remove their masks.
New Orleans' Social clubs represent a fundamental part of the Mardi Gras experience as the hosts of the parades, with the two main Krewes, Zulu and Rex, being social club parades and those clubs being, respectively, African-American and Caucasian. They also host Mardi Gras balls that start in late January, and see the crowning of a queen (usually a young 18-21 YO woman, not married and in HS/college) and king (older member of the club), the election of their court of maids of young ladies aged 16-18 and different divisions of kids with roles in the ball and parade. And like the preparation for a prom, a sweet 16 party or wedding, those who are members of a court have plenty of time to prepare, such as having their dresses being fitted out; along with deciding who to invite (as they are by invitation only) and where to stage the ball, typically at a large venue like the Superdome or at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center for the respective Endymion and Bacchus "Super Krewes."
And there's those throws. Those famous beads, inexpensive and readily available nowadays, first appeared in the late 19th century, and made overseas in the multi-colored strings of glass beads. Since the 1960's, more durable plastic beads made in Asia became the standard as the low-cost nature of those toys have allowed riders to purchase greater amounts of them and throws are more frequent. By the '90s, they were joined by bigger, more elaborate metallic beads and strands, including figures of people, animals and other objects, which are now the most-sought after trinkets. And these days, they have some company in the form of more limited edition beads and plush toys provided by the numerous Krewes. And the most-sought-after items now are fiber optic beads and LED-powered prizes, as well as glass-beads made in India, inspired by the retro movement.
Plus, there's those doubloons, which are large coins, ether metal or wood, made in purple, gold or green colors. They have been around as long as the plastic beads - being conceived in 1959. Artist H. Alvin Sharpe is the founding father of the doubloons, having introduced the idea of aluminum coins to a krewe that year. The usual krewe doubloons have their organization's logo, name, founding date, theme and year of parade displayed on both sides, and are usually given away at both the parades and at the balls. There's also the Zulu Coconut, which is a heavily sought-after throw; a flambeau (a flame-torch) which is a beacon for the nighttime parades; and a Rex, voted upon by the krewes to serve as king of the carnival.
Having just watched the Olympics Closing Ceremony just over a week ago, the ending of Mardi Gras in New Orleans has a touch of fun, tradition and sadness. The formal end to the activities sees "the Meeting of the Courts" when Rex and His Royal Consort, the King and Queen of the Carnival, meet up with Comus and his Queen at the ball of the Mistick Krewe of Comus, which is the city's oldest Carnival organization still active. That Meeting of the Court ceremony will occur at the end of the two groups' masked balls, which take place in downtown New Orleans later tonight. At the same time, at the stroke of midnight at the end of Fat Tuesday in the French Quarter, a mounted squad of New Orleans Police officers will make a show of clearing the upper part of Bourbon Street to signal the end of Carnival and the beginning of Lent and the early hours of Ash Wednesday. Tomorrow is sometimes referred to in the city as "Trash Wednesday" due to the amount of refuse left behind in the streets, and the tons of garbage picked up is a local news item, reflecting the strong tourism impact Mardi Gras has on New Orleans.
For me as a longtime loyal fan of MTV's The Real World, the show has traveled two times to New Orleans for a season, and both times have seen their casts celebrate Mardi Gras. The first was in 2000 when Danny got himself in hot water for cheating on his boyfriend by having sex with a local guy in the confessional. The second was ten years later when the celebrations began a few days early after the Saints' Super Bowl win and saw McKenzie's drunk alter ego make an appearance, along with now-radio host Ashlee got her feet wet of losing a voice recorder in the madness. In both instances, the roommates got to ride a float and even flashed as well.
I might not travel as much as I want to because of the schedules of both me and various members of my family. But from having watched NOLA's Mardi Gras celebrations over the years on television, it would sure look very cool to have this on my bucket list and experience this craziness and tradition for myself one day.
Don't forget to check me out here on DCBLOG, where will be offering occasional posts on here of things outside of what I am passionate about, which are entertainment and sports. If you're a fan of MTV's The Real World, The Challenge and Are You The One?, bookmark DCBLOG for blog posts on those shows, including our SocialPulse diaries of cast tweets from the episodes as they watch them. And follow me on Twitter @DC408dxtr for twitter alerts to interviews & articles with the cast, conversations that I have with them, and live tweeting, including tonight's Are You The One? episode and tomorrow, a fan's view of last week's Real World Ex-Plosion After Show.
For now, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed my view of the Mardi Gras Madness. And until I join you on twitter later tonight and then here tomorrow, have fun and be safe. See you then.
- DC
Sources: Wikipedia
- Mardi Gras:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras
- Mardi Gras in the United States:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_in_the_United_States
- New Orleans Mardi Gras:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_Mardi_Gras
- New Orleans Mardi Gras:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_in_Mobile
