Southern Decadence 2007: New Orleans' Largest Gay Event!

Take one Labor Day weekend, mix in a few thousand of your closest friends, add a parade, and garnish with your wildest decadent costumes and you have Southern Decadence in New Orleans, Louisiana! Beginning every Wednesday before and running through Labor Day, Southern Decadence, or "Decadence" as the locals call it, is the event of the New Orleans gay community. The weekend-long slew of parties, friends, and revelry drew in top crowds of 120,000 in its pre-Katrina life. Though somewhat smaller now, Decadence continues to grow in size and 2007 is lining up to be a spectacular event.

A bit of Southern Decadence history
It's hard to imagine that Decadence got its beginnings in 1972 when a group of friends decided to break the summer monotony of heat and humidity by throwing a cocktail party complete with the traditional parade in honor of a friend who was leaving town. The close knit group of friends would spend hot summer days taking turns reading A Streetcar Named Desire while the others would cool themselves off in a large claw foot tub. In the book Rebels, Rubyfruit and Rhinestones: Queering Space in the Stonewall South, James T. Spears details the first party.

""The party began late that Sunday afternoon, with the expectation that the next day (Labor Day) would allow for recovery. Forty or fifty people
drank, smoked, and carried on near the big fig tree ... even though Maureen (the New Yorker) still complained about the heat."

In traditional New Orleans fashion, the parades continued and in 1974 the first Grand Marshal was appointed by a consensus vote by the original group of party organizers which were a mixed group of heterosexual and homosexual friends. By 1981 most of this group had moved on and a former Grand Marshal decided to continue the event with the help of his friends from a local gay bar. From that year forward, Decadence has been a primarily gay event which brings the entire community of business and patrons together for an unforgettable weekend. Grand Marshals are no longer voted on by consensus but rather the title is passed on each year by the reigning Grand Marshal from the previous year. Once the two Grand Marshals have been announced, the new Marshals announce the theme, song, colors, and sponsors at the Official Southern Decadence Coronation in July 2007.

Where y'at?
The New Orleans locals often ask, "Where y'at?" which translates to "where are you at". You should definitely know where you are at for Decadence by coming to the center of all the events at the intersection of Bourbon Street and St. Ann Street. This is the epicenter of the gay community in the Quarter and is the location of the Bourbon Street Pub and Parade and Oz, the cities two largest gay dance clubs. Both clubs will offer non-stop sources of entertainment around the clock. That's right -- the party never stops in New Orleans as our bars are open twenty-four hours a day. Don't worry about staying in one place too long because the party is largely in the streets between the two bars. And New Orleans has no open container laws in the French Quarter (just be sure it's in a plastic "to-go" cup when you leave the bar). You will be able to get to any other location in the French Quarter within a ten to fifteen minute stroll depending on the number of stops you make to take pictures or enjoy a daiquiri (or two, three... who's counting)! Several printed guides are available in local bars and businesses to help guide you through the area.

What did you expect?
There is no way to prepare the first time visitor for a Decadence experience. The website SouthernDecadence.net has a wonderful guide for the first timer. Compiled by locals, the tips include pacing your drinking (remember the bars are 24/7), leaving your wallet at home for safety reasons, minding the parking restrictions, and most importantly respecting the historic neighbor hood. Be sure to check out the website for the complete list of visitor tips as you plan your trip. Other sites to check for information about Decadence are SouthernDecadence.com and FrenchQuarter.com. Be sure to check out the sites frequently for updates after the Grand Marshals are announced in July. The most overlooked area of these sites are the weekend passes which can save you lots of cash and future credit card bills. Both the Pub & Parade and Oz offer weekend passes. These passes are good through the entire weekend and Monday. You will get in any night there is a cover charge and usually do not have to wait in the long line outside. Cover charges usually start at ten dollars go up to as much as forty dollars each night as the crowds swell in size. So do the math. Five nights of cover = $50 - $200. One quick online registration for a weekend pass = $60.

You may choose to stay in a fancy bed and breakfast or bring a car load of friends and shack up on the hotel room floor. No matter how you do it, Southern Decadence will always offer a fantastic time full of memories you will talk about for years to come -- or maybe you'll just want to never mention it again! After all, what happens in New Orleans... ends up public news on CNN! Hope to see you all here!