Get Bent for Lent!

[Arguably celebrating non-stop since their beloved Saints' NFC Championship win sent the team to the Super Bowl, New Orleanians' biggest party begins today. Below is a video by Michael DeMocker from the Times Picayune's nola.com capturing some of the sights and sounds of Mardi Gras 2010.]

Orpheus Rolls Down Uptown Parade Route

index of all Times Picayune Mardi Gras videos.

Zulu Lundi Gras Festival

Monday February 15
10 am – 5:30 pm
18th Annual Zulu Lundi Gras Festival
Woldenberg Park
1 Canal Street
New Orleans

"The festival event will feature local and world -renowned entertainers performing on three stages. Musicians such as Kermit Ruffin, Amanada Shaw and the Cute Guys, Ed Perkins, Rebirth Brass Band, Pinstripe Jazz Band and many more will be providing non-stop music.

The Lundi Gras Festival will add flavor to your day when the 17 food vendors kick up the Cajun aroma of crawfish pie, shrimp creole, file' gumbo, alligator sausage, Jamaican chicken, crawfish bread, barbeque ribs, seafood pasta, catfish po-boys, peach cobbler, pecan pie, and many more New Orleans delicacies. There are other attractions to wet your festive appetite. Everyone can join in a second line as the Zulu Mardi Gras Carnival Characters parade every hour through the thousands of revelers wearing their colorful flamboyant costumes. Who knows -- you may be one of the lucky ones to receive a treasured carnival throw -- the Zulu Lundi Gras Coconut!

Also, witness the arrival of the Zulu King and Queen by U.S. Coast Guard Cutter along with their entourage at 5 pm."

Free.

[Text from Festival website. Graphic from NOLA.com. Caption: "Staff photo by Ted Jackson. Larry Roy, official Zulu Minister of Fun displays a coconut for the crowd, enticing them with the Mardi Gras prize during the Zulu Lundi Gras Festival in Woldenberg Park in the French Quarter."]

"Love is in the Air"

Sunday, February 14 | 5 pm
Krewe of Bacchus Parade
New Orleans, Louisiana

"With more than 1,350 members and 33 animated super-floats, the Krewe of Bacchus is revered as one of the most spectacular Krewes in Carnival history."

Superbowl XLIV Champions New Orleans Saints quaterback Drew Brees will reign as King of the Krewe of Bacchus.

The theme of this year's parade is "Love is in the air."

parade route

Mardi Gras 2010 Parade Schedule

[Text and graphic from Krewe website.]

Krewe of Isis

Mardi Gras 2010

February 13 | 6:30 pm
Metairie, Jefferson Parish
Krewe of Isis

"Isis was the mother of Horus and the sister and wife of Osiris in the mythology of ancient Egypt. She was honored as the goddess of the earth and the moon, a symbol of motherhood and fertility. Isis was also worshiped in the Greek and Roman empires. She was traditionally represented as a woman wearing a cow's horns with a solar disk between them.

In 1973 this all-female organization was charted in the city of Kenner, and the women held their first 7 processions there before adopting the standardized veterans Memorial Boulevard parade route, which more than a dozen Jefferson krewes share."

Krewe of Isis Facebook Fan Page

[text and graphic from Mardi Gras Parade Schedule website. Cross-posted to Signal Fire.]

Social Aid & Pleasure

February 8, 2010 | 7:30pm–10:30PM

Mardi Gras 2.2 Social Aid & Pleasure Marching Club Parade
New Orleans

"Have fun it's Mardi Gras"

"Throws: We give out Purple, Green & Gold flowers from canes.

History: We follow in the footsteps of the Garden District Carnival Club which originated in the Irish Channel. Our King, who started our club, marched in the GDCC as a child along with his father & grandfather. We will be stopping in at 5 locations along St. Charles Ave. during our march for refreshments, starting at Fat Harry's and including Commanders Palace to make 6 stops in total.

We are open to all and encourage involvement, we meet on the 22nd of each month at La Playa on Clio. We do not charge dues but ask for donations to pay for the band & NOPD. Mardi Gras costumes are required to march and ladies wear tu-tu's and any guys that want to."

Mardi Gras 2010 Parade Schedule

[Text from Parade Schedule website. Graphic from image search for "Mardi Gras Parade" – MIT website."]