Mardi Gras World

Hey guys! I just got back from my stay-cation and have a treat for you today! I visited Mardi Gras World! This is where they make many of the beautiful floats you see in Mardi Gras parades. I saw so many artists sculpt, paint and put together these spectacular floats. The process is tedious, but the results take your breath away. There are a number of Mardi Gras krewes (organizations/group of people) that order floats to be made each year. Themes are decided upon (funny, historical, etc), designs are drafted and then The Kern Family (they own Mardi Gras World) execute those ideas! One parade can have 25+ floats! So the designing process is year-round! The people on the floats, dress up in costumes and throw beads & other trinkets to the crowd along the parade route. What's really cool about Mardi Gras World is they have kept some figures from past Mardi Gras parades (just as you would in a museum). So while you see NEW things being built there, you also see some older treasures.

Many of you were interested in knowing more about Mardi Gras traditions, from my previous post. To answer your questions about King Cake, there are different styles of King Cake depending on where you live. In New Orleans, ours is a cinnamon-filled dough with a glazed topping and colored sprinkled sugar on top (Traditional King Cake). There are now flavored King Cakes! You can get them filled with apple, cream cheese, chocolate, lemon, strawberry, praline etc. In my opinion, the best comes from Manny Randazzo King Cakes. King Cake is associated with the festival of the Epiphany (at the end of Christmas season) & Pre-Lenten Festivities! The plastic baby inside the King Cake represents Baby Jesus (that's why it's so lucky to get). But usually the one that get's the baby, has to buy the next king cake for the group (office, party etc). Mardi Gras (also known as Fat Tuesday) is a series of CARNIVAL CELEBRATIONS leading up Ash Wednesday (start of the Lenten season). During this time, you drink & eat what you want...party...etc! When Ash Wednesday arrives all of that ceases, because you're preparing for Easter. Usually Catholics give up something they love and pray during this time. I hope this helps explain things :) I could get real technical, but I feel this is long enough. LOL Enjoy!

Which Way Mr. Jester? ;)

We're Off To See The Wizard! 

Familiar Faces

Kings, Crowns And Court

 

 

Just Jestering And Joking Around

 

Masquerade

Ahoy Mates! Ho Ho Ho ... And A Bottle Of Rum!

 

He's A Genie In A Bottle ... Three Wishes!

Mystical Creatures

Going Ape, Butterflies and Bananas...And Other Critters ;)

Around The World

Blues ... And All That Jazz

We've Got Sunshine

Birds Of A Feather, Crocodile, Alligators And Lions! Oh My!

Characters For The Halloween Parade

 My Snapchat video of a section of Mardi Gras World. It's a LONG warehouse located on The Mississippi River (Downtown New Orleans). Sound is intermittent (off/on) because there were a lot of school children attending that day. Join me on Snapchat at averysweetblog
I'll be visiting your blogs later today ;)