Category Archives: parades

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Carnival days

After the rain passes today, we expect 3 days of glorious Mardi Gras weather, and like millions of other people, I wil spend most of it in and around the French Quarter. Will meet up with friends and family and do things like Stanley’s for gumbo, coffee at Cafe Du Monde, and drink at the updated Carousel Bar,see a parade and hear some music. And just bike around admiring costumes and running into people and catching up.

Carnival is not about getting so drunk that you can’t stand up or flashing body parts or screaming “WOOOO” as you walk down the street. It’s about friends and creative energy and social time while forgetting your cares for a few days. Welcome.

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Well it’s our weekend to be the hosts!
This Sunday, we gather in the Quarter for one of the top parades among local parade goers, Barkus. This dog parade is up there with Muses, Zulu and our new favorite, ‘tit Rəx. Barkus’ theme this year is “Mission Impossible- Canine Protocol, Armstrong Bark Reloaded” so look for a lot of Tom Cruise inspired black climbing outfits and cool sunglasses hanging off ears…
This is year 20 for the organization, and this parade grows more fun every year. And all done on behalf of animal protection causes. And for those who ask me where it is in the Quarter, don’t worry-you’ll find it on your own!
Barkus site
Right after you have your friends stake out your spot for the parade, head up to Frenchman for the best costume market of the year. This from its organizer, the Godmother of Flea Markets, Cree McCree:

I’m delighted to announce that Threadhead Records Foundation is the nonprofit sponsor for this year’s Carnival costume bazaar at the Blue Nile. THR’s generous support continues a Frenchmen Street tradition dating back to the first Carnival Creations Bazaar at Cafe Brasil in 1991. Cofounders Tracy Thomson and Oliver Manhattan are among the artists and designers displaying their wares at this fabulous city-sanctioned event, which rises from the ashes of the Great Blue Nile Costume Bust of Mardi Gras 2011.

Threadhead Records Foundation Presents:
21st Annual Carnival Costume Bazaar
Barkus Sunday * February 12 * 12 Noon – 5 PM
Blue Nile * 532 Frenchmen St.
504-948-2583 * Free & open to the public

A dozen of New Orleans’ most creative designers, hatters, costumiers and mask-makers offer a vast array of one-of-a-kind costumes, masks, accessories, props & festive Carnival creations.

Featuring: Oliver Manhattan, Tracy Thomson/Kabuki, Mo Lappin/Howlpop, Jonathan Woods/Calamity, Cree McCree/Cree-ations, Jessica Radcliffe/High Bohemia, The Hat Man/Charles Barkley, Christeen Wright/Avante Garb, Joy Patterson, Darlene Hargreaves, Kate McNee, Natalie Pierce and Veronica Russell.

A don’t-miss event for people who take Carnival seriously!

What a weekend to be on foot and in the sliver!

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Bayou Classic Thanksgiving Parade Returns To New Orleans

WWL – AM870 | FM105.3 | News | Talk | Sports – Bayou Classic Thanksgiving Parade Returns To New Orleans.

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Southern Decadence Parade Will Go On As Planned Today

(September 4, 2011)- Despite the rain, Southern Decadence Parade organizers say the parade is still on for this afternoon.
The parade is slated to begin at 2pm, lining up on Royal and Barracks Streets. It’s expected to wrap up around 4pm at Bourbon and Dumaine Streets.
It’s important to note that this year’s parade is strictly for walkers. No floats or vehicles will be included in the line-up.
The parade route is the same as was originally laid out by organizers, and is in today’s Times Picayune. The only major street that may need to be blocked off for up to 15 minutes is North Rampart. During that brief time, RTA buses that run on that street will be temporarily stopped until the parade has left the area and moved into the French Quarter.
NOPD is ensuring ahead of time that all streets along the route are free of standing water or other hazards so paraders and parade-goers will have a safe, enjoyable time.

# # #
New Orleans Police Department

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Southern Decadence is here.

The Labor Day weekend is the time to escape from most cities, heading to crowded beaches or gnat-filled cabins. In New Orleans, we will instead have costumes and parading with all of the attached pageantry, courtesy of our rainbow people. Since the early 1970s, this event has been on calendars of the chosen fey, and since the explosion of the gay rights movement in the 1980s, it has become one of the most anticipated gay community series of events for any New Orleanian. From the history page:

And so it was, on a sultry August afternoon in 1972, that this band of friends decided to plan an amusement. According to author James T. Spears, writing in Rebels, Rubyfruit and Rhinestones: Queering Space in the Stonewall South, this “motley crew of outcasts” began Southern Decadence as a going away party for a friend named Michael Evers, and to shut up a new “Belle Reve” tenant (from New York) who kept complaining about the New Orleans heat. As a riff on the “Belle Reve” theme, the group named the event a “Southern Decadence Party: Come As Your Favorite Southern Decadent,” requiring all participants to dress in costume as their favorite “decadent Southern” character. According to Spears, “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.”

Schedule

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Pride parade today!

Parade lines up at Harrah’s Casino on Canal Street

The parade is FREE and open to anyone wanting to show their Pride!!

PARADE LINE UP IS AT 11 AM ON CANAL ST AT HARRAH’S CASINO!!!

Street Festival begins at 1 p.m.

Parade route:
Goes down Canal Street to Bourbon Street

Down Bourbon Street to St Peter Street

Down St. Peter Street to Burgundy Street

Down Burgundy Street to St Ann Street

Down St Ann Street to Royal Street

Ending on Royal Street at St Peter Street

Map

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Eris parade

Even though much of the Eris parade situation did not occur in the French Quarter, it does have a bearing on it. In this first link, the organizers talk about how they rerouted the parade to not go to Jackson Square because they could sense the tension from the idea of downtown artists coming to parade in the old city.
organizer interview
Second is the video of a police officer telling someone to put the camera down while they were doing what a citizen should do:
Eris/NOPD

And lastly, the NOPD (including the 8th District) is in this paraders account of his arrest:
Eris parader account

All I can say at this point (as we watch to see how this unfolds) is that we all need to take a deep breath, count the many ways that the creative culture makes this city thrive and do what we can to support more dynamic artist activity in the French Quarter and nearby neighborhoods.