The spirit of Mardi Gras has flocked to Baton Rouge. The Spanish Town parade encourages people to fill the streets with beads, laughter and pink flamingos.
The Spanish Town parade gained its name from the route it travels as it treks through most of the Spanish Town neighborhood in downtown Baton Rouge.
A signature piece of the Spanish Town parade and neighborhood is the mascot, the pink flamingo. Plastic pink flamingos are not seen as fancy or graceful, but as kitsch. The flamingos are also placed in Capitol Lake each year before the parade.
The goal of Spanish Town is to entertain.
The parade is organized by the Society for the Preservation of Lagniappe in Louisiana. The purpose of the non-profit corporation is to develop and support activities that preserve Louisiana traditions, such as the Spanish Town parade.
SPLL uses the money from the tickets purchased for the Spanish Town ball and the money given for parade entries to cover expenses. After expenses from the ball and parade are paid, the extra money is given to local charities, such as St. Vincent de Paul Women’s Shelter and Looking Fur Love Dog Rescue.
In previous years, Spanish Town’s court has included political figures such as former Gov. Edwin Edwards and East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Melvin L. “Kip” Holden.
The king of this year’s parade, Gil Leachman, is one half of the first royal couple in Spanish Town history. His wife, Roxanne Leachman was the Queen of Spanish Town in 2007. It’s rare for a couple to be selected for the court of the same parade.
Leachman has ridden in Spanish Town for eight years. He was nominated by the SPLL board and unanimously voted as this year’s king.
Leachman called Spanish Town a “politically incorrect parade.” The krewes within Spanish Town select politically tied events that have happened within the year and make fun of them.
This year’s theme is “Flamingo Dynasty,” which was drawn from “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson’s incident that occurred late last year. Robertson made controversial statements about the gay community during an interview with GQ Magazine.
“The parade is definitely risqué, but it’s all part of poking fun at the figures we see in the news,” Leachman said.
Laken Boudreaux, Queen of Spanish Town, said the parade is essential to Baton Rouge citizens and local culture.
The SPLL board had its meetings at the pub that Boudreaux worked in. She became acquainted with the board over time and was nominated by a few members to be this year’s queen.
“It’s one of the few days where people loosen their ties and simply revel in the fun. Expect the unexpected,” Boudreaux said.
Spanish Town differentiates itself from other Mardi Gras parades by creating new floats each year instead of rehashing ideas from prior parades. All of the float designs and decorations are hand drawn by krewe members.
“I have never felt the excitement about any parade as much as I have with Spanish Town. It makes the whole city happy,” Boudreaux said.
Leachman said the reason Spanish Town is so popular is because the parade is focused on entertaining the people of Baton Rouge. While other parades try to have the most elaborate floats or the biggest names, Spanish Town keeps it simple by concentrating on the fun.
“It’s the biggest party in Baton Rouge. Nobody wants to miss Spanish Town,” Leachman said.
The “poor man’s parade” is known to leave the remains of plastic flamingos in the streets and beads hanging from the trees.
The Spanish Town parade will roll Saturday at noon beginning on Spanish Town Road. The full parade route can be found at downtownbatonrouge.org.
“It’s one of the few days where people loosen their ties and simply revel in the fun. Expect the unexpected.”