Arthur Hardy's Mardi Gras Guide

MARDI GRAS 2008 REVIEW and Commentary
Posted: February 13, 2008

By Arthur Hardy

One week ago was Fat Tuesday and most of us involved have not yet caught our collective breaths. I think we had a good, solid and fairly normal Mardi Gras that more closely resembled pre-K Carnivals than the 2006 and 2007 versions in terms of the quantity and quality of events. In spite of some contrary views, I believe crowds were down slightly. For the third year in a row, parade goers seemed to be calmer. Hotel occupancy was solid, but we have 7,000 fewer rooms that we did in 2005. What makes Mardi Gras 2008 so difficult to evaluate are the things over which we had no control: the early date which kept visitors away, especially college kids; the Eli Manning Super Bowl coinciding with the Bacchus parade; Super Tuesday presidential primaries which kept the media away; the horrible weather on two of ten parade nights; and the random shooting along and near parade routes—an extremely serious problem from a safety and PR standpoint.

FAT TUESDAY
This year’s Rex made history by not using his scepter on the king’s float and by ascending from this throne and dancing at the Mayor’s request at Gallier Hall. Reactions ranged by “what a hip king!” to “there goes 136 years of tradition.” (By custom, Rex never stands up on his float.) There was no controversy over the LSU Band’s appearance in the parade, which was universally praised. It was also nice to see the Tulane Band in their brand new uniforms.

The biggest news of the day, other than the 79-degree weather and 30 mile-an- hour winds, was the breakdowns in the Zulu parade, which delayed their parade and that of Rex and the Elks Orleanians and the Crescent City Truck Parade. Who is responsible for these problems and what can be done to correct them?

Zulu proved in 2007 that it could start on time and roll smoothly, even though it usually includes more than 100 units (113 this year). Certainly Zulu and other krewes can shave the number of units within the parade to keep them moving in a more timely fashion. Zulu was on the street more than seven hours. In can be argued that Bacchus, Endymion and Orpheus are sometimes bigger than Zulu, but they do not have parades that follow them.

Zulu is unique in that, in addition to its regular members, rider positions on floats are sold to non-members. Some claim that these floats are being overbooked and that the floats cannot accommodate the extra weight (coconuts are heavy). Would that explain the ten flat tires and the one wheel that came off? Bottom line is that these problems have a far-ranging impact. They also damage Zulu’s good reputation and that of float builder Blaine Kern, who certainly knows how to put super krewes on the street.

Because of the inordinate number of float breakdowns this year in this parade and others, look for the N.O. City Council to enact new ordinances that limit the number of parade elements and that fine krewes for breakdowns.

MEDIA
I was particularly proud of my association with WDSU Channel 6. The station went all out this year, providing coverage of every major parade in four parishes and live shots from ten locations on Fat Tuesday. Channel 6 also broadcast live from the balls of Zulu, Endymion, Bacchus, Orpheus, and from the gay Satyricon ball. The WDSU website live-streamed more than two dozen parades and received thank-you e-mails from locals still dislocated after the hurricane, as well as from shut-ins. Visitors to WDSU.com from all over the world looked at about 375,000 pages of content on Fat Tuesday. Hats off to WDSU Webmaster Bryan Harris who made this happen.

NICE
• Endymion parade and Samedi Gras return to Mid-City
• Renovation of Rex den and memorabilia display
• Virtually no mention of Katrina in parade themes and float titles
• Original Illinois Club returns
• Hulk Hogan proved a great Bacchus and spent a day at Childrens’ Hospital visiting the kids
• Return of Atlas, Gladiators parades
• Birth of Lakeview walking club Krewe of Brid
• Krewe of Bes debuts on Fat Tuesday in Gretna
• Sidney Torres again cleaned the Quarter
• Orpheus honored Torres as one of its monarchs
• Tributes to Herb Jancke, former Rex Temple Brown, Harry Lee
• Growth of Family Gras, despite the rain
• Mardi Gras Mambo Mask contest a success
• Krewe of Cork continues to grow
• Float builder Phil Fricano purchased a fleet of new tractors
• Alla Gras and Alla’s 12th Night parade becomes an annual tradition
• Twin African American debs presented at Rex ball
• Adonis and Choctaw’s wise move to the first Saturday of the season.
• PPP’s return (partially) to its St. Charles Avenue route
• Best parade to roll too late—Muses
• One parade that should not have rolled in rain—Oshun
• Best parade not to roll at all -Chaos
• Jeff Parish Parade Coordinator Karen Wood modified the new Veterans parade route in response to residents along Bonnabel Blvd. and workers at the Clearview Shopping Center
• Zulu mounted a display of memorabilia and costumes at the Lakeside Mall
• NOPD allowed parades to return to their line-up areas on Napoleon near Claiborne Avenue.

NOT NICE
• Tragic death of Endymion float rider
• The city's electrical inspector came down hard on float builders and krewe captains with the new and ever-changing code enforcement rules
• Municipal Auditorium is still closed to Carnival balls
• Crowds were small and very casually dressed at Gallier Hall
• Marking off of territory along parade routes, to the exclusion of others who also want to see the parade, must be addressed. Public property belongs to everyone.
• Shortage of tractor drivers caused problems with rescheduled parades
• Lack of flambeaux carriers
• New tradition of throwing things at the final floats in Bacchus has to stop
• Cleopatra notified the media of its parade cancellation before the NOPD was informed
• Krewe duVieux crossed the line with its savage lampooning of Senator David Vitter

DID YOU KNOW?
• Pontchartrain featured a camel in its parade
• Babylon’s rained out night parade rolled during the day, the first time since 1955
• LSU and Saints players and coaches were honored in several parades, but the N. O. Hornets, who were in town for most of the parade season, were not
• Thoth members who were caught with their masks off were thrown out of the club three days after the parade rolled
• Several krewes now require riders to sign waivers acknowledging the city’s ordinance against drinking alcohol aboard the floats

KREWE MERCHANDISE
• Muses and Tucks continue to lead in the quality and quantity of logo items
• Orpheus threw 2.5 inch doubloons, the largest ever.
• On Fat Tuesday, a bidder on eBay paid $77 for a Rex boeuf gras bead
• Funds from the sale of Rex’s new Frisbees go to help public schools
• Bacchus collectors can get a set of 40 mini-doubloons representing each king by buying the club’s 40th anniversary poster
• Chaos, Muses and D’Etat again thrilled collectors who wish to have permanent records of their floats by issuing cards (Chaos), liner notes (Muses) and a Carnival Bulletin (D’Etat). The Chaos pieces will be very collectible since the parade did not roll.

NEXT YEAR FAT TUESDAY IS FEBRUARY 24, 2009

2007 Mardi Gras Review & 2008 Preview
Posted: January 01, 2008

Mardi Gras 2007 was normal, non-eventful, and more closely approximated Carnival 2005 than the abbreviated 2006 version. The celebration was blessed with not one drop of rain on the ten days that parades rolled. The fun began with two special anniversary parades that rolled on Twelfth Night. We gained back so much of our celebration last year, both in quantity and quality. Orleans added two days to the parade calendar and reinstated the 14-float and seven-band minimum for each procession. Four krewes returned after not parading in 2006 — Druids, Cleopatra, NOMTOC and Oshun; Aladdin, Bards and Saturn appear gone for good. The new schedule still allows NOPD to have two nights off.

The neighborhood lost Endymion, but Mid-City gained the Phunny Phorty Phellows and their streetcar parade on January 6. The return of Thoth to the Magazine Street neighborhood was warmly received. Zulu, which returned to the Convention Center for its ball and also presented a full Lundi Gras schedule, rolled early on Fat Tuesday with a record 58 floats.
Prominent African-American ball organizations such as the Bunch Club, Original Illinois and Young Men Illinois returned, as did a few more Indian tribes. King Arthur became the first predominantly white krewe to feature black royalty.

Former members of the MAX Band returned in 2007 to their home schools’ marching bands: St. Augustine, St. Mary’s and Xavier Prep, and a half-dozen Orleans Parish public schools marched for the first time since Katrina.

It was a good year for celebrities, including members of the New Orleans Saints who rode in several parades. Taylor Hicks, Styx, Journey in Endymion; Patricia Clarkson and Harry Connick Jr. in Orpheus; James Gandolfini in Bacchus, all thrilled the crowds.

Satire may have reached a new high in several parades, most notably in Chaos, D’Etat and Muses, each of which had the wisdom to memorialize their parades by issuing playing cards, a newspaper and a comic book, respectively.

The oddest throw of the year had to be the Chaos whoopee cushion which reflected the theme, “Chaos Breaks Wind.”

As Blaine Kern became captain emeritus of Alla, he started the “Alla Gras” celebration the day before his parade. Attendance was good.

Metairie celebrated the 50th anniversary of parading last year. Parish President Aaron Broussard’s Family Gras celebration was successful and will be expanded.

The 12,500 who attended the star-studded event welcomed Endymion’s return to the Superdome.

For the second year the city was unable to land major corporate sponsors. Rather than this being a headline, it was merely a footnote. The overriding theme of Mardi Gras 2007 was that of families gathering along the parade routes. Never have we seen more of them, on picnic blankets, bar-b-queing chicken, boiling crawfish, tossing Frisbees and footballs as they awaited the parades. Much like 2006, this was a tame and mellow Carnival season, even in the French Quarter. There were more maskers and fewer Katrina-related costumes. The Society of St. Anne and other smaller groups that march through the Marigny and the Quarter added a lot this year to the visual scene on Fat Tuesday. And speaking of the Vieux Carre, never has it been cleaner. Bravo!

Once again several krewes showed their charitable side. Endymion donated a new motor scooter to the NOPD and their guests Styx presented a $30,000 check to Sweet Home New Orleans. Bacchus again teamed with artist Michael Hunt and donated the proceeds of the Bacchus poster (signed by James Gandolfini) to Children’s Hospital. Rex expanded its charter school outreach program by forming the Pro Bono Publico Foundation, which will award grants to local schools.

What kind of Carnival season will 2008 enjoy? New Orleans will be the center of activity with the Sugar Bowl and BCS Championship games scheduled the first week of January. But with the earliest Fat Tuesday date in any of our lifetimes, we can expect fewer visitors for Mardi Gras. Why? No college spring break this early in the semester, and many people will be paying off their credit card bills from Christmas. And don’t expect the usual horde of national media to descend upon the Crescent City, either. The Super Bowl in Phoenix is set for two days before Mardi Gras, and Fat Tuesday coincides with Super Tuesday (presidential primaries in 20 states), so the media will be elsewhere.

With Endymion’s greatly anticipated return to Mid City, citizens can expect a Carnival season that shows virtually no effect from Hurricane Katrina (with the exception of the still-closed Municipal Auditorium, the former site of many Carnival balls).

Coming and Goings

After not parading the past two years, Atlas appears poised for a comeback in Metairie. Jason will not parade this year, but hopes to return in 2009. Napoleon has moved its parade from Sunday to Saturday in order to avoid competing with the Super Bowl.

Mardi Gras lost some key figures in 2007, including costumer Larry Youngblood, Society Orchestra leader Frank Mannino and float builder Herb Jahncke Jr.
Route Changes

On the westbank Adonis and Choctaw have changed the dates and locations of their parades and will roll on the first Saturday of the parade season. Most New Orleans krewes will take the Canal Street loop this year.

The standard Metairie parade route has a new wrinkle with parades turning left onto Veterans Boulevard when they exit the formation area. All parades will take the Bonnabel loop.

The NOPD will allow a few parades to line up on Napoleon near Claiborne Avenue.

Changes loom in the world of Mardi Gras museums. The long-range future of Rivertown’s Mardi Gras Museum is in question. The Carnival exhibit at the Louisiana State Museum at the Presbytere is being downsized and moved to the U. S. Mint. And Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World will likely move to the east bank within the next year.
Rumors

Two rumors floating around in early December have the Krewe of Gladiators trying to mount a small parade on the first Saturday on the parade season in St. Bernard, and the new Krewe of Bes parading on Fat Tuesday in Gretna behind the Krewe of Grela.
After Mardi Gras

Endymion president and Beads By The Dozen owner Dan Kelly will reign as grand marshal of the 26th Annual Louisiana Irish-Italian Parade at Noon on Sunday, March 30, 2008, in Metairie. Meanwhile, Blaine “Mr. Mardi Gras” Kern will present the Krewe of Boo parade on Halloween. The venture will benefit displaced police officers.

Stay tuned.