Besides Katrina, or BEFORE Katrina, the first thing that came to mind when one thought of New Orleans was Mardi Gras. This is traditionally the day when people party one last time before lent starts…This is probably a legacy from the French as they even have the King’s cake that I have talked about before…
In New Orleans, Mardi Gras is celebrated over 10 days. Every day there is a parade, sponsored by a different group. These groups raise funds all year round to decorate the floats in their parade, every year is a different theme. The Zululand parade is a yearly event.
I had the opportunity to visit the warehouses where the floats are stored, the characters made and decorated. I must confess that I was not expecting much..well…I was VERY surprised! by the number of pieces and their size and the variety of themes. I was impressed by the creativity of the conceptors and by the dexterity of the artists.
It felt like being in Alice’s wonderland to be walking among all these oversize figures.
The themes vary from year to year. The floats are painted white at the end of each year to be ready for new decorations next season. The characters are often re-used with a few ajustments. Techniques have changed over the years. They used to be Papier maché over a wooden structure, which was very heavy and fragile. Nowadays they still use papier maché but it is applied over styrofoam bases which is lighter and a lot easier to assemble.
The floats also are now adorned with thousands of lights which makes them a lot more colourful.
We learned that people are tied to the float so they do not topple over…and that there is always a toilet on board…that the total height of the float cannot exceed 16 feet and that the parades no longer run through the french quarters because the streets are not wide enough and the vibration might shake the old buildings too much.
The famous bead necklaces that have become a symbol of New Orleans get tossed from the floats. You can see the hooks they are hung from on all the floats…now if the beads get tossed up to the girls on the balconies, it is seen as a request for some boob flashing. Once I found that out I was a bit more hesitant to wear mine…
This was a fascinating visit….I would love to come back for Mardi Gras…