Mardi Gras Parade

While we were in New Orleans last weekend, we got the chance to go to a Mardi Gras parade.  This was my first time experiencing that and it was a lot of fun.  I had always heard of the decadent Mardi Gras parades, but found out those really only happen in the French Quarter, where things tend to get a little wild.  At the Krewe of Iris parade on St. Charles St., it was all families and lots of colorful characters and children running around.  Good family fun!  We took mom along to the parade too and it was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for an outing like this.

It was so interesting to see how they get set up for these parades.  The ladders and boxes come out for the kids to sit on and it’s such a vibrant atmosphere.

There are lots of colorful characters on the streets with crazy costumes, hats and other Mardi Gras memorabilia.

This house was right across the street from where we were sitting and it was just gorgeous.

Lauren and Philip had friends in this house, so it was nice to have a potty break spot, right on St. Charles Ave.

Dressing up for Mardi Gras is a big deal down there, with most everyone sporting purple, gold and green.

It was a sunny day and perfect for a parade.  Mom and Lauren enjoying the sunshine.

Renee and Parker.

Once the parade started, it was non-stop action coming down the street, from high school bands to all the cars and floats going by.

Of course, collecting beads is a huge part of what everyone is doing and we collected plenty of them ourselves.  I left all of them in New Orleans though.  We had a huge sackful of beads.

It was fun seeing all the costumes and pageantry happening in the parade.

The kids on their ladders waiting for beads and other trinkets to be thrown from the parade floats.

The Krewe of Iris Parade.

And the Queen on her float.

Not sure who this lady was in the car.

The craziest sight had to be this one.  The Elvi float.  What is an Elvi float, you ask?  Well, it’s scads of Elvis impersonators zipping by all over the place.  Elvi = plural Elvis.

See them all!

Elvis on scooters.

Pointing Elvis.

So many Elvi all going by.

He caught me taking his pic.

All the Elvis characters were so hilarious.

This parade is all about parties, from Christmas, to New Years Eve, to baby showers, weddings, graduation, and more.

Each float was filled with many people dressed up in characters and throwing out beads and trinkets.

It was too cute that we caught a pink heart with Iris on the front of it, named after the parade. But, it’s also my mom’s name, so she thought that was really fun and took it home with her. Check out her bead loot!

It was a very fun day and I was so happy to experience my first Mardi Gras parade. It was a blast and I would definitely do it again.  So many families were there with all the kids and all ages enjoying the sun and all the festivities.

Have you been to a Mardi Gras parade?  I know many other cities do parades too, but New Orleans has to be the most famous of all.

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