Bobbi Mannino, New Orleans Mardi Gras
With all that fun out there, how do you decide which events to attend? We’ll hit the highlights here, with the help of Bobbi Mannino, Public Relations Director of www.MardiGrasNewOrleans.com.
What are the largest krewes? According to Bobbi, “The largest krewes (the most members) are the Krewe of Endymion, Krewe of Bacchus, Krewe of Zulu, and Krewe of Orpheus. I believe the Super Krewes are the ones that have the extremely large (I call them ‘mega’) floats ... Krewe of Endymion and Krewe of Bacchus.”
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What are the most popular parades? “Those are the ones put on by the largest krewes (listed above), plus the krewes of Rex and Proteus.”
What are the most unique parades? Bobbi has a list:
Endymion – the only New Orleans parade to use a different parade route. It rolls through Mid-City and ends up Downtown. It has a celebrity Grand Marshall.
Bacchus - only parade to have a celebrity King – they have a great list of past kings such as Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, etc.
Zulu – the only African American krewe - they parade on Mardi Gras morning just prior to Rex.
Rex - probably the best known parade because Rex is considered "King of Carnival".
Proteus - still uses the old floats with the old wagon wheels.
Orpheus - a krewe formed by Harry Connick, Jr. He often invites many of his musician friends to ride with him.
Muses - an all female parade with lots of bling and glitz!
Cesar - one of the many krewes which parade in Metairie (Jefferson Parish). What makes them unique is that they are invited to replicate this parade in Disney World on Mardi Gras Day.
OK, now what about the grand tradition of the Mardi Gras Ball? How do those work?
“The actual tradition ball has the presentation of the King, Queen and their Court, and is by invitation only. The members of that organization have a certain number of invites to distribute,” according to Bobbi. “The most prestigious ball occurs Mardi Gras night when the Krewe of Comus and the Krewe of Rex meet. It's called the ‘Meeting of the Courts’. To my knowledge, there are no public balls. There are "extravaganzas" that the public can purchase a ticket to through the organization such as Endymion, which holds its after parade party in the Louisiana Superdome.”
Hopefully, that’s enough information to get you started well on your way to New Orleans Mardi Gras bliss.