I’ve decided a little background on Carnival and Mardi Gras may be in order. If the thought of Mardi Gras in New Orleans conjures up images of the craziness in the French Quarter and “flashing” for beads, then you’ve got it all wrong! New Orleaneans avoid the Quarter like the plague during Carnival season!
“So what is it then,” you ask? Technically, the Carnival season starts on
Kings’ Day, a.k.a. Twelfth Night, and ends on Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. There are differing opinions as to the origin of the word “Carnival,” but I prefer the one that makes it a time of forgetting one’s earthly worries and cares. Just enjoy the festivities and your license to be a clown. Remember the national uproar and disapproval when New Orleans went ahead with Mardi Gras that first year after Katrina? Oh, PUH-LEEZ! It was an act of defiance and determination, and I couldn’t think of another community of people more deserving of being allowed to forget their cares, if only for a few days! Never mind that it’s big money and something New Orleans couldn’t afford NOT to do.
Here’s a little video that tells a little bit of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras history. Even better: it shows some King Cakes being made!:
Carnival traditions have evolved over the years, but the Mardi Gras parades are still very much a family-friendly event. It’s like having a parade and huge street party almost in your very own front yard! The photo above shows a typical neighborhood scene as a float rounds the corner from Jefferson Ave. to Magazine St. Note the ladder-chair contraption holding the children on the right. A birds-eye view for the kiddies! That’s right! Kiddies! February 5, 2011 4:04 PMThere’s something for everyone, adults and children a like.
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