Carnival Balls, King Cakes Music and Parties Make Mardi Gras an Affair to Remember

Fat Tuesday, Carnival, Mardi Gras, It makes no difference what you call It, because in New Orleans it all means the same thing; absolute madness. It's a time for celebrating and showing off, fueled by a river of libations and a giddy abandonment of social mores.

But unless you live in New Orleans, you may never find out what Mardi Gras season also means to many locals. Ask a resident what she's planned for Carnival and she might tell you about winning her office "king cake" (a Danish-like pastry with filling and multi-colored sugar topping) party, how she has designed the tri-color bunting along her balcony's ironwork, how early she and her friends will stake their stepladder claims to key viewing sites along the "neutral ground," or about the more sedate Mardi Gras parade she's taking her kids to in one of the city's outlying parishes.

In the same way that few self-respecting New Yorkers would lake the elevator ride to the top of the Empire State Building, many New Orleans residents sidestep the height of Carnival's madness on Mardi Gras day (Shrove Tuesday) in the city's French Quarter. To be sure, they catch a full dose of the season's spirit, but they also know a few tricks about maximizing its fun and minimizing its headaches. Families wanting to celebrate Mardi Gras close to their neighborhoods and suburbs have provided the impetus behind the establishment of Carnival "krewes" (float building and sponsorship groups) and Carnival season parades in the city's Uptown, Mid-City and Carrollton districts, including the celebrity-studded Orpheus krewe formed by entertainer and local hero Harry Connick Jr.

These parades take place during the two weeks leading up to Shrove Tuesday, and are less crowded events that give children a better-than even chance to snag one of the coveted "sugar bead" throws tossed by float-riding krewe members. Several parishes (townships) on New Orleans' outskirts have their own parades as well as krewe parades leading up to that day. Melanie's Mardi Gras parade in the largest of the lot, followed by the Fat aka Shrove Tuesday parades in Covington and West Bank. The irreverent throws tossed al these parades range from moon pies to stuffed animals and doubloons.

Lafayette (130 miles west of New Orleans) celebrates a unique, Creole-seasoned Cajun Mardi Gras, an event becoming widely known for the quality of its musical performances, friendliness of its neighborhood street dances and succulence of its crawfish gumbo. A favorite hold-over tradition from New Orleans' first Shrove Tuesday celebration in 1699 involves slicing open a king cake. Inside the cake is either a plastic toy baby or a gold colored bean - but no matter what the king cake's hidden prize is, the result is the same for its lucky finder: He or she is responsible for providing the cake for next year's office, neighborhood or social group king cake party. The second-best thing about king cakes is their delicious filling, which ranges from pecan to cinnamon, cream cheese and lemon pudding.

Being the city's premier social event of the year, Mardi Gras season actually begins with the Twelfth Night Revelers Ball, which is held on the Feast of the Epiphany, the day after Christmas' traditional 12 days of more solemn celebration come to an end. The ball signals the start of a whirlwind six to eight week period cramming more than 60 formal balls (white tuxedos and morning coats are de rigueur for gentlemen, while ladies wear their very best gowns) into New Orleans' social calendar. While the guest lists to these balls are often limited to krewe members and their friends, other balls are more democratic affairs where one merely has to buy a ticket on the night of the dance.

From one end of the Crescent City to the other, neighborhood pride comes alive during Carnival season. Gumbo parties staged in front yards frequently spill out onto sidewalks and streets, and its not considered bad manners to drop in for a bowl of 'bo and a cold beer if you hear about a friend of a neighborhood friend who may be fixing to play party host on a given day. If you stumble onto one of these bashes, just say you're a pal of Bobby Joe, who lived right around the corner during last year's Mardi Gras, and chances are you'll be treated like long-lost family.

New Orleans folks take enormous pleasure in decorating their front porches for Mardi Gras season, especially with fabric, Christmas balls and flashing lights in the gaudy, official Mardi Gras colors of purple, gold and green. Some porticos arc even festooned with huge, papier mache figures of jesters, kings, sunbursts and buxom women - and its not uncommon for more enthusiastic Mardi Gras revelers to decorate their homes in Carnival season fashion well before Christmas Day. Leisurely drives through several New Orleans neighborhoods are a must-do for Carnival season visitors.

Another local favorite takes place the day before Mardi Gras in Spanish Plaza, a public space close to the city's downtown art gallery district. "Lundi Gras" is a decidedly family affair that features spectacular fireworks and the public debut of Rex, the official King of Carnival and leader of the enormous Rex krewe that parades down St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street on Mardi Gras Day. On the same day, the Louisiana Children's Museum stages Lundi Gras events running from midmorning to mid-afternoon, all geared toward young people from toddlers to teenagers.

Sources:

Huber, Leonard V. Mardi Gras: A Pictorial History of Carnival in New Orleans 1989

MacMillan, Dianne M. Mardi Gras (Best Holiday Books) 2008