Mardi Gras 2024 - Part Two

I spent the week of January 30th to February 6th in New Orleans celebrating and participating in Carnival, all in the name of “research” of course.

Mardi Gras parades just don’t happen. They result from planning and teamwork that starts almost the day after completing the current year’s parade. “Riding” parades, i.e., those involving floats, involve complex logistics, including weaving bands (mostly from local high schools) and marching/dancing groups (like the Muff-a-Lottas or the 610 Stompers) in between the floats. Each parade includes a command vehicle and maintenance trucks from Kern Studios to deal with breakdowns or other mishaps (like a multi-unit tandem-float hitting a tree).

And each participant has a lot to do as well, beginning with being a member of a Krewe, ordering throws, etc. For someone like me coming from out of town, there are additional challenges. According to my activity tracker (Fitbit), during my time in New Orleans, my step-count was almost 82,000 (23.2 miles).

I’ll acknowledge it’s not like running a marathon, but …