What’s your favorite parade?
SidneyRose Reynen
I don’t like parades. I’d prefer to never get pelted with plastic beads by white people who reek of beer. A plus-side to parades though: those free plastic cups. However, I do enjoy parading around LSU campus in a new outfit. No one throws things at you then.
Justin Stafford
I have only attended quaint community parades. I find them to be pleasant in a small-town America kind of way. I love the sight of the people gathered together and the children on their parents’ shoulders. The sound of the young laughter as they catch a string of beads is fantastic. It takes me away for a moment from the hustle and bustle that consumes the world.
Andrew Stolzle
I’ve never had a more positive Mardi Gras experience than when I was in the third grade. Since the highlight of my days usually centered around “Spongebob” and a McFlurry with M&M’s, catching gigantic beads and shiny doubloons was an almost out of body experience. But now, I’d rather quarantine myself in my own room instead of marinating in streets filled with cheap beer, musk and rejection.
Megan Dunbar
Olympia is hands-down my favorite parade. The super krewes are great and bring back fond memories. But as a Northshore native, I have to give kudos to the parade showcasing the St. Paul’s band in all its finery. It’s like Mardi Gras lite, with just a little bit of drunken debauchery in front of the thousand art galleries in downtown Covington instead of stately St. Charles Ave. homes.
Eli A Haddow
Growing up in New Orleans, there was no better childhood memory than walking from school on Jackson Ave. to my grandmother’s house the Friday afternoon before Mardi Gras. There, I would sit through a couple of hours of CNBC, eat cold Popeyes and await the coming of Hermes and Le Krewe D’état. The eager anticipation of the rest of Mardi Gras, as well as the ensuing week off of school, made that night more enjoyable than Christmas Eve itself. Couple that youthful sentiment with the taste of stale-ish McKenzie’s king cake (without icing) and nothing could compare.
Samantha Bares
I’m pretty loud and adamant about catching the coolest beads and other useless knick-knacks at parades. I don’t flash anyone, or anything, but I definitely yank the mile-long strands out of the air before it can land on some poor kid’s sensitive head. We all know this holiday is for the benefit of the children, after all. But my favorite parade runs from my front door to the garbage can, beads in hand. Mardi Gras is fun in the moment, but introduces way too much clutter.
Jose Bastidas
The mass of heavily intoxicated grownups and the overpriced cab fares of my first Mardi Gras last year were automatically overshadowed by my favorite parade, Bacchus. I’m not one to compete, let alone beg, for people on floats to throw beads and other stuff at me. So when I was standing in the crowd and a toy pig dropped to my hands, I knew that I had to treasure it forever. His name is Herman, and yes! It grunts.
Jana King
Having spent four years in high school marching band, Mardi Gras parades are not my fondest memories. Each year I marched about 30 miles total, toting a heavy silver mellophone and dressed in a hot, sweaty uniform. My first year in college, I took Mardi Gras weekend off — avoiding New Orleans at all costs. This year will be my first experience on the sidelines, and I’m hoping it’s a good one.
Annette Sommers
My first parade was last year, about a week before the actual holiday. My friends and I flashed our best “throw me something, mister” smiles, which quickly faded as a parade of nudity and, to put it nicely, vulgar figures, drove by. It just so happens that was Krewe du Vieux, and I was scarred for life. Or at least until I witnessed Bourbon Street. nightlife, Mardi Gras edition, a week later.
Ryan McGehee
The best for me was the Mardi Gras Day parade in Gheens, La. In the days leading up to it, I helped construct the float a buddy of mine and his family were riding on, most of which was a drunken blur. Say what you will about New Orleans, but they can absolutely throw back some booze in Gheens. During the parade, I spent my time in a lawn chair in the back of a pickup getting pelted with hundreds of beads.