These are New Orleans' most-celebrated Mardi Gras parades
NEW ORLEANS — If you did it right, by the time Mardi Gras arrives Tuesday, you’re exhausted.
But in a good way — like how you’d feel, limbs heavy from motion, after running a race.
Carnival officially starts in New Orleans weeks — some years even months — before, on Jan. 6, or Kings’ Day. In the weeks before the concluding Tuesday arrives (this year, Feb. 25), the number of parades increase, until they finally roll from mid-morning until late night, reports The Daily Advertiser, which is part of the USA TODAY Network.
Mardi Gras Tuesday, though, begins and — for most of us — ends early. By 8 a.m., I need to be out on St. Charles Avenue, tracking down the meandering marching groups and admiring everyone’s costumes.
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We stake out a spot for the parades amid the lawn chairs and barbecue grills that crowd the grass along the avenue.
Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday," also called Shrove Tuesday. It is the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of Christian Lent season leading up to Easter.
During Lent, many Christians fast, and the name Fat Tuesday refers to the last day of eating richer foods before the leaner days of Lent begin. In 2019, Mardi Gras falls on March 5.
On Tuesday, the streets of New Orleans will fill up with people dressed in costume tossing beads in honor of Mardi Gras.
Zulu, Rex headline Mardi Gras parades
The Zulu parade rolls first.
Put on by a local African-American social club, Zulu is regal and ragged, unruly and riotous, and pretty much the distillation of all that I love about Carnival.
Plus, Zulu hires bands from HBCUs, so the music can’t be beat.
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Rex, the king of Carnival, rolls by next.
That krewe, as Carnival parading groups are known, is made up of men with money and mansions. The identity of each year’s Rex is always revealed on the front page of the local paper.
It's the last big parade of the day, and its members would claim Rex is the culmination of Carnival.
But for me, Rex, with its lack of satire and stiff sense of frivolity, is a letdown after Zulu. We rarely make it until the end of Rex. My boys often give out before the last float rolls past.
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As we walk back to the car, even a few blocks from the parade route the city is eerily deserted.
Everyone is at the parade or the few other pockets of action, like Frenchmen Street or wherever the Mardi Gras Indians, in technicolor feathered costumes, are wandering.
Nearly every business is closed. The city is peaceful.
Where to find Mardi Gras parades
Starting the Wednesday before Mardi Gras, parades roll in New Orleans every night and, once Saturday arrives, during the day, as well. Most parades start Uptown on either Jefferson or Napoleon avenues and end near the French Quarter.
I prefer watching the parades on Magazine Street before they reach Napoleon Avenue. Not all parades start that far Uptown, so you'll miss a few. But you will also avoid the largest crowds.
For a complete parade schedule with route map, visit www.mardigrasneworleans.com/parades.
On Monday, the day before Fat Tuesday, the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure club hosts a free Lundi Gras festival at the riverfront with music and food. This year's king and queen of Zulu make an official appearance at the Lundi Gras Festival.
See www.lundigrasfestival.com for more information.
Both Rex and Zulu take a different route through the city than most parades. You will need to catch those parades farther Uptown (in other words, closer to the CBD and French Quarter).
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My preferred spot is in front of The Avenue Pub, 1732 St. Charles Ave., which has the best beer selection in town.
Contributing: Matthew Diebel, USA TODAY
