Photo Galleries > Mardi Gras 2007 (15)
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Zulu
The Zulu parade makes its turn onto Canal Street from St. Charles Avenue. The oldest African-American carnival krewe, Zulu is one of New Orleans's most cherished organizations. Louis Armstrong considered his ride as King Zulu the greatest honor of his career. For parade goers, the great honor is to catch one of the Zulu coconuts krewe members hand out to the people in the crowd.
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Royal Street Nobility
Traditionally, Mardi Gras is a large-scale lampoon. The idea is for the common people to poke fun at authority. In colonial France there were two ruling classes: royalty and clergy. This is why so many traditional Mardi Gras revellers wear Renaissance-style court dress. A knowledgable Mardi Gras reveller knows there is a big difference between Mardi Gras costumes and Halloween costumes.
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Royal Street Court
At the door of the Monteleone hotel, a large group in Renaissance noble attire holds court.
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The Boat People
A lot of Mardi Gras costumes include the bishop's miter or a crown. In an interesting riff, this group substituted sail boats. Appropriate, since at this river town shipping has always been king.
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Enlightenment Nobility
This pair have dressed as eighteenth century nobleman, just the type that might bankroll a city in the New World.
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Medieval Jester?
This fellow was also on Royal Street. Since Mardi Gras is all about satire, the court jester has been a recurrent theme in costuming back to the very beginning.
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Cameleons
A little of everything -- soldier, royalty, and Carribean style.
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The Caesars
We met Augustus and Julius at Jackson Square. Most Mardi Gras organizations, called krewes, take a Greek or Roman name. Well-known krewes include Zeus, Aphrodite, Caesar, Muses, Bacchus, Endymion, and Hercules. Dressing as a Roman emperor is a natural.
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Marching Club at St. Louis Cathedral
At 1:05 pm a marching club dances in front of the St. Louis Cathedral. The marching clubs are one of the more interesting Mardi Gras traditions. Anyone can form a marching club. All that is needed is a group of 20 people willing to costume, and a walking jazz band. These groups wander all over the French Quarter on Mardi Gras, going from monument to monument or street to street or bar to bar. They stop, the band plays, and everyone dances. This club had a particularly good band. At the time of this photo I think the band was finishing up "Bourbon Street Parade" before launching into another classic, "Joe Avery." If you think you have never heard of "Joe Avery," think again. Bill Haley and the Comets added words to the tune and released it in the 1950s as "Rock Around the Clock."
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A Cardinal
The clergy is a target of Mardi Gras satire just as kings and politicians are. Every year I see many clerics. Here is a Cardinal standing on the balcony of the Pontalba building, overlooking Jackson Square.
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Masking on Chartre Street
Masking is a large part of the Mardi Gras costume. The mask preserves anonymity, allowing the individual more freedom to poke fun at others. This was very important in early Mardi Gras celebrations -- under a king, freedom of speech was by no means a given. Today masking is accepted as simply a way to let loose without fear of embarassment. Carnival krewes also mask out of a sense of modesty. Many of these groups are charitable organizations, and masking is a way to keep the members' identities, and thus the source of the philanthropic donations, private.
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Bishop on Chartres Street
One of the better bishop costumes on Mardi Gras. I think His Excellency was drinking Budweiser.
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Napoleon
Napoleon plots with Josephine to buy back the Louisiana territory. The "buy back Louisiana" theme has been recurrent since Katrina. Perhaps it is one of Katrina's permanent legacies.
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Reveller, Chartres Street
This Arabian style costume with the sash and balloon pants is typical of people who ride floats in parades. This person was probably part of a walking club that had broken up earlier that day. I am not sure I understand the reasons, but while most parades take a Greek or Roman theme in their float designs, most of the rider costumes are Arabian-looking.
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Rex Parade
One of the last floats of the Rex parade rounds Canal Street. Rex, in its 125th year, is the oldest continually marching Mardi Gras parade. The king of this organization is always called "Rex," not "King Rex," since rex is the Latin word for king and thus the term would be redundant. Rex is also known as the King of Carnival. After the parade the Rex organization hosts a ball at one of the hotels on Canal Street. The ball ends at midnight when Rex meets Comus, the king of another very old Mardi Gras organization. Mardi Gras tradition has it that when Rex and Comus sit down on their thrones together, Mardi Gras officially ends. Tell that to my hangover.