I have always associated Mardi Gras with New Orleans, assuming it to be one of their traditions. Turns out, I was wrong:-)) It actually started in Mobile, Alabama and the entire season is heavily celebrated in the area. Though Mardi Gras technically refers only to Fat Tuesday, the Mardi Gras season actually begins on Epiphany, (the twelfth day of Christmas) and ends on Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent.)
For more than a month, everything is decorated with gold, green, and purple. Beads and masks are everyone, on people, on dogs, on decorations. Supermarkets advertise the availability of King Cakes (a cake made of brioche with a baby inside.) Family Friendly parades are carefully choreographed between the cities so that they don’t overlap.
We couldn’t get reservations for Mardi Gras, so we decided to go for St Patrick’s day. What I didn’t realize was what that meant! The parades in New Orleans are extraordinary. I suppose that is to be expected, really, in a city that is known for merriment and music. I gave up trying to count the number of parades there were during the week before and after March 17 – sometimes there were two and three a day on the same street. The one thing they all had in common was the theme.
St Patricks Day parades in NOLA celebrate all things Irish. By celebrate, I mean “throw from parade floats”. Green four-leaf clovers on strings of beads, of course, but anything else that might be remotely related. Footballs, Lucky Charms, Rainbow Candy, Top Hats, Hula Hoops,
Green Carnations, Gold Coins, Irish Spring Soap, and even the ingredients for Irish Stew.
I have to admit, the first time I caught a cabbage, I was thrilled. By the end of the parade, I had caught 3 cabbages, 2 bags of carrots, 2 potatoes, several onions, 1 bell pepper, and an eggplant. As well as two packages of ramen noodles. And over 40 pounds of beads. No, I am not exaggerating!
The next day, we took a tour of the city and were astounded by the number of decorations still around the city and in the trees. The two-story floats are at the same level as the tree branches, so quite a number of trees, stop lights and wires were still dripping in decorations and beads. The tour guide said there was no point in taking it down – there is a reason for a parade pretty much every week. In fact, there is a factory in New Orleans that does nothing but make and decorate parade floats.
A place that makes nothing but parade floats?
Of course, we had to visit Mardi Gras World to see how the floats were made. There we learned that this particular company makes statues for not only parade floats but also for stores, restaurants, and other places that need a display.
We learned that the permanent statues were made of fiberglass and mounted on metal frames, but the temporary ones were made of Styrofoam covered with paper mache and mounted on wood. This type of statue was only used once, and then it was returned to the warehouse to be taken apart and remade. I don’t know any other craft that takes apart a perfectly good item to remake it, do you?
The floats are owned by the crew that sponsors it. No corporate sponsors are allowed for the parade floats in New Orleans. Whenever you see a float, be assured that it was paid for (and the “throws” were paid for) the people that are in it’s crew.
I was so disappointed…
When I figured out the FQ Task Force didn’t refer to Fat Quarter!
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