RALEIGH, N.C. — Some of my favorite childhood memories were waking up super early, getting dressed in a fun costume, getting into the back of the car and eating doughnuts on the way to Mardi Gras parades!
When you are a child, you assume everywhere in the world takes off that week to enjoy parades. It's a special time in Louisiana. Especially in the New Orleans area, where parades start rolling well before Fat Tuesday.
If we got our homework done, sometimes we'd be able to go to a parade on a weeknight before Mardi Gras Day. Those were fun nights spent with friends and family, usually huddled under blankets waiting in the cold for a parade to start.
Mardi Gras Day always started early because we had to drive to the city and get a parking space and then find a spot to setup our chairs. We'd bring a cooler with soda and water, plus bags of chips, sandwiches and, of course, King Cake.
A lot of people ask me what it was like as a kid and an adult going to Mardi Gras, so here are some fun Mardi Gras facts:
Throw me something! You just stand there, waving your hands in the air asking for plastic beads and then people just throw them at you. It seems like a weird concept. These beads aren't expensive, but, in the moment, people treat them like they are worth their weight in Gumbo. I've been pushed, stepped up and knocked over as people try to get the best "carnival throws." Throws are just the term for what is thrown off the floats.
It can be family-friendly. Yes, there are some people flashing their chests to try to get beads. That happens mostly in the French Quarter in New Orleans. You will still see it happen at the larger parades, but if you go to the suburbs for the smaller ones, you are less likely to see that kind of stuff. Outside of the drunk person who wants to push their way in front of you, it isn't too bad in the suburbs. Now when you into New Orleans for the major parades, it can be wild and there are a lot of drunk people. And in the French Quarter, it is an adults-only environment.
People put their children on top of ladders. It is totally normal to see ladders with little wooden seats added to them for the kids to sit in during parades. It is a way for children to catch beads and be able to see the parade pass. Is it safe? Probably not the safest option for your child, especially if they are at a major parade with double-decker floats flying by. Some parade riders throw those beads and even packs of beads still in the plastic bags really hard, so your child could get hit in the face and injured. When he was little, my brother got hit one year. My parents would stand behind him and try to reach in front of the ladder seat and protect him, but it wasn't always possible.
They really grease street poles in the French Quarter - People climb the street light poles and the balconies in the French Quarter during Mardi Gras. The coveted balcony spots are a great place to see everything wild happening below, but they also typically come with a huge price tag. Places like the the Royal Sonesta hotel on Bourbon Street use petroleum jelly to grease the poles leading up to their balconies and even have an event each year called the annual "Greasing of the Poles." NPR did a story about it.
Beads aren't the only thing you might catch. Some of the most interesting things I've caught at parades have included moon pies, chips, stuffed animals, fake roses, footballs, bean bag balls, underwear (hopefully not used!!), hats and even condoms. This year, one parade will have a float throwing rapid COVID tests.
"Ain't No Place To Pee On Mardi Gras" - That's an actual song and it is so true! The best parades spots always have bathrooms nearby! There are portable toilets in some spots but when those get gross or the lines are too long, you gotta come up with another option. We sometimes opted to pay to go to the bathroom. You'd pay like $20 and you get so many tickets for the day to use a special portable toilet that is cleaned after each use. But that also means you need to make sure you don't use all your tickets too early or you are out of luck when the late parades start rolling.
When it's over, it's over. When the clock hits midnight and it's officially Ash Wednesday, police go through the French Quarter to clear it out. They tell people to go home and then the street cleaning begins.
What happens to all the beads? Well, you save them for friends who ride in parades and need throws. Or you can donate them to local nonprofits. I used to just keep the really pretty and giant beads and donate the rest. I still have beads from my New Orleans days and I saved them for my kids to play with and wear. My daughter loves the beads with hearts on them.
I always get homesick this time of year, so I started making King Cakes for my family and telling my little ones about what it was to attend parades. Maybe one day, I'll get to take them to a parade, but for now, I'll just throw beads at them in our house!
