THIBODAUX, La (press release) – The Louisiana King Cake Festival, presented by the Lorio Foundation, will return for its fourth annual celebration on Saturday, Jan. 31. Happening in Downtown Thibodaux, the Louisiana King Cake Festival will showcase food from local…
I have had a lifetime of Mardi Gras celebrations but only in New Orleans. Since I was a baby, we’d find a spot on St. Charles Avenue, spread out a big blanket, prop up our chair ladders and spend Fat…
The three capitaines are busy working on their whips. Astride horses, they wear jeans, boots, button-down shirts, black hats. From their shoulders hang lustrous capes. They flutter, purple, green and gold in the February chill. A quick shriek like scratching…
When most people think of Mardi Gras, images of Bourbon Street revelry and towering floats most likely come to mind. But venture beyond the Big Easy, and you’ll discover a Louisiana where Mardi Gras traditions run deeper than beads and…
Rick Majeste, Metairie
The all-new Mystic Kings Krewe parade (January 5) kicks off Mardi Gras (February 17) with bejeweled co-ed riders prancing through the streets of New Orleans atop graceful Arabian stallions amid artful floats and twirling flambeaux. In Lafayette, Mardi Gras parades…
BATON ROUGE, La (press release) – The 12th Annual Baton Rouge Mardi Gras Festival starts with a Pre-party on Thursday, Feb. 27, from 7 p.m. to midnight at Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room. The main festival will be held on…
At its simplest, Carnival is all about parties. At its most sociological, Carnival is a season with deep cultural roots. Carnival in Louisiana is a celebration with three different strains of evolution: One is the New Orleans style Carnival which is,…
It’s true New Orleans gets the most attention when it comes to Mardi Gras and no one would argue that it’s the biggest and — perhaps depending on who you ask — most notorious. But celebrations big and small,…
From Twelfth Night to Superbowl LIX, ‘tis the season of king cakes, epic parades and official NFL events. Nothing gets Carnival season started like the celebrated Phunny Phorty Phellows’ Twelfth Night (January 6) streetcar ride festooned with “It’s Carnival Time”…
Photo by Kelly Massicot, New Orleans
This week's episode is a crossover with sister podcast "Beyond the Beads" from New Orleans Magazine. Since the early 20th Century, the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club has been a prominent figure in Carnival culture. From the meeting of…
There was a time when king cakes were a mere side attraction to Carnival, served mostly in classroom parties and during office breaks. A New Orleans’ baker had borrowed from the French tradition of Gallette des Roi and prepared what…
Seated in a rocking chair on South Carrollton Avenue in New Orleans, Carrie Fisher ponders her corset. In the past six months, she’s spent 100 hours beading the artwork she’ll eventually attach to it, and with 100 days until…
In March 1699, French Canadian Pierre Le Moyne traveled down the Mississippi River to explore the Louisiana colony. It was Mardi Gras, the celebratory Tuesday before Ash Wednesday when French residents have long “lived it up before giving it up.”…
Acadiana arguably hosts the second-largest Carnival celebration in Louisiana with the requisite balls, parades and special events akin to its massive cousin to the east. But a group of Lafayette residents thought something new was called for, something intimate,…
Due to a police shortage, New Orleans is spending millions of dollars to add law enforcement to keep Carnival safe in 2024. New rules: Only 34 parades are allowed in 2024, no more silly string or mylar confetti canons…
NEW ORLEANS (press release) – Stronghold Studios is a locally owned and operated art and fabrication studio based in Mid City, New Orleans, Louisiana. This Mardi Gras season, they are stepping up to the plate and taking the lead on the…
Louisiana is the only state where beads are known to dangle from oak trees. That phenomenon is especially common in New Orleans where the trees along certain avenues are nurtured by Carnival floats passing beneath their limbs late each winter.…
Due to New Orleans’ smaller police force, another year of shortened parade routes continues until Rex rolls on Fat Tuesday (Feb. 21). Diversity prevails, from the 1,600-member Krewe of Bacchus parading with 33 animated super-floats and 30 marching bands (Feb.…
At a Glance Location Acadia Parish Flora Grooved flax, small palafoxia, shining indigo-bush Fauna Sabine map turtle, southern crawfish frog, Teche painted crawfish Three masked men climb atop a barn and pound their fists against its rusted roof. Below,…
New Orleans La Société de Saint Anne parade revelers march the ashes of those who have died the past year to the Mississippi River on Mardi Gras Day in New Orleans.
Like most South Louisiana cities, Lake Charles pulls out the stops for its annual Carnival festivities — more than 60 krewes and a host of related events. What makes this southwest city unique, however, is the annual gala that…
