Mardi Gras in New Orleans is essentially a five-day party.
Families and college students alike line both sides of St. Charles Avenue to (the neutral ground side and the sidewalk side, when trying to meet up with friends) watch parades, drink and celebrate. The parades are run by different society clubs known as Krewes, and that’s where most people catch the prized Mardi Gras beads (and before you ask, I’ve never flashed for beads but I’ve probably caught thousands. Also, flashing can get you arrested for indecent exposure). Some Krewes throw other things, as well—for example, the Krewe of Muses is an all-women’s parade that also throws decorated shoes, and the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club parade throws decorated coconuts. You don’t need to flash for those either. Because of the length of the event, however, everyone is told that Mardi Gras is a marathon, not a sprint, and should be treated as such. The end of the marathon comes on Monday night, Lundi Gras, and stretches into Mardi Gras Day.
I’d never made it to the Mardi Gras Day parades—Zulu and Rex roll very early in the morning, and it’s pretty much necessary to stay up all night to make it. But this year, two of my friends and I were determined to stay up all night and see Zulu and Rex. After the Lundi Gras parades, we went back to campus to relax and rally for the night ahead, which took us downtown to Bourbon Street, back uptown to some of the bars at Tulane, and finally back toward Downtown to Zulu. We made it through a majority of Zulu before we decided to walk back, where we caught part of Rex further up St. Charles Avenue. We didn’t catch a ton of beads at either parade and we were exhausted by the time we got back to Tulane, but we made it to both parades, essentially winning at Mardi Gras 2011.
Proof I made it to Rex: The guy on the float is the 2011 King of the Krewe of Rex (every parade has royalty—kings, queens, maids, and dukes). The King of Rex is also the King of Mardi Gras.
Pictures from the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club’s parade, which rolls at 8 a.m. on Mardi Gras Day. The closest part of their route to Tulane is about two miles from campus.