Mardi Gras is taken very seriously here in Louisiana; schools are closed along with many businesses. There are parades, picnics, music, and lots of excitement. The colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold-we should have learned this before heading to parade but alas we we were soon adorned with these colors and more. Purple/Justice, Green/Faith, Gold/Power. We also should have brought a wagon to haul all the beads and other trinkets we were thrown back to the car.
Three parades were held back to back today along the same parade route. We were able to see the whole King Gabriel's Parade. The floats were presented by different Krewe's, who passed out trinkets and threw beads. There were also scouts, bands, majorette teams and motorcycle officers doing stunts. A Krewe (crew) is a social organization that puts on a parade(s) or ball for Carnival season.
At the end of the parade route was a carnival with rides, games, food, and drink booths.
About 2/3 of our bead collection.
We redecorated for Mardi Gras with out bead stash and King Cake.