Which Mardi Gras Is Right For You Part 2: Krewe of Who?

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A Salute to Independant Krewes, the Real Carnival

Back when I wrote about the Krewe de Vieux parade, I think I said something about the small krewes capturing the original Mardi Gras carnival spirit. Obviously that’s a bunch of grandiose nonsense because how the hell would I know about the original Mardi Gras spirit anyhow? But I hope it’s true. I love the scaled down and ad-hoc approach of the independent ones that pop up one year and may be gone the next. This entry is my salute to some of those folks without whom Mardi Gras might become a serious affair.

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Photos

Krewe of Box of Wine
They buy their wine in boxes. They had a parade. What?

King and Queen of Box of Wine
They also drink their wine from a box. I'd say the king is on his second or third box.

Court of Box of Wine
See...it's a bunch of grapes coming out of a box.

Krewe of ?!?
I'm actually at something of a loss to explain this one. Look carefully at the costumes.

A very independant krewe
I'm actually not sure if thses guys were part of a parade or if they just happened to be dressed like this.

A Krewe of One
The guy in the blue seemed to be just wandering from group to group.

Not much explanation needed
Well, you expect some of this sort of thing, and New Orleans doesn't like to disappoint.

Krewe of Barkus
Krewe of Barkus is a parade of French Quarter dog owners.

Barkus 2
Mark, meet your customers.

Barkus 3
Here's the Batdog Mobile

Barkus 4
...but Batdog seems to have wondered off. Did he see The Batdog Signal (a milkbone in silhouette)?

Elvis is Everywhere
Dressing dogs as Elvis is almost as popular as dressing people as Elvis.

Barkus 6
I saw three different bulldogs as crawfish.