Mardi Gras World

Ok, back to blogging...sorry it's been so long.

A few weeks ago Erin Lekey and I went to Mardi Gras World. Neither of us have ever been to Mardi Gras or know a lot about it, so we figured that we would take the tour to learn about it.

We started the tour by getting to try on some costumes.

Erin and I are wearing some basic court jester outfits.

Is this Marilyn Monroe or Michelle Reis?

Whoever it is looks super scary!

Queen Erin

So after we tried on some costumes, we watched a video about Blaine Kern, "Mr. Mardi Gras". His studio in New Orleans makes about 80% of the floats for Mardi Gras. He also has studios in Orlando, Vegas, NY and some overseas. They create floats for Disney and a lot of the casinos in Vegas. Needless to say, he is a millionaire!

The video taught us all about the history of Mardi Gras.

The first American Mardi Gras was celebrated in New Orleans on March 3, 1699. It wasn't until the mid-1800s that official parade organizations start to form with the Krewe of Comus in 1856 and the Krewe of Rex in 1872. The tradition is still carried on in New Orleans with many other krewes represented on floats in a myriad of parades. The official colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold (representing justice, faith and power).

Mardi Gras celebrations can start as early as January 6. The festivities end at midnight on Tuesday--the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Mardi Gras day falls on any Tuesday between February 3 and March 9. Like Ash Wednesday, the date Mardi Gras falls on depends on the date of Easter--always occurring 46 days before Easter. This year Mardi Gras is February 16, 2010 (Ashley Spann's Birthday).

We also learned that to be a part of one of the Krewes, you have to pay about $2,000/year. Each Krewe is required to raise money to pay for their parade (there are no corporate sponsorships). To have a parade, your Krewe must have 14 floats. There are three basic floats that the Krewe uses each year...those cost $50,000 each...no, your mind isn't playing tricks on you, I said $50,000. Then, the other 11 go with the theme that the Krewe has chosen for that year...those cost between $75,000 and $100,000 each. So, the cost of a parade can be $975,000 and up...super expensive! Not only do they have to pay $2,000 to be in the Krewe, they have to purchase their own throws (beads, coins, cups, etc...) to throw from the floats. So, you can't be a scrub to be in a Krewe!

After the video, we tried King Cake...a staple during Mardi Gras. Then we walked through the studio and saw the magic taking place.

It starts with sketches of the floats (shown below).

Once the sketches have been approved by the Krewes, the work on the floats begins.

Each year, they try and repurpose some of the floats.

This "man" was a wizard on a float last year. All they do is strip off the paper mache or foam down to the original form and build it up again. Most floats are built out of styrofoam or fiberglass. If you look to the left, you can kinda see the man on the ladder working on the float...it just gives you an idea of the size of the foam man.

Blaine Kern is a Saints fan...as is everyone in New Orleans!

For the floats, they make small models, like the one shown above.

This one is a model of the sailor kissing the woman.

You can start to see how the sailor kissing the woman goes from a small model to a real float.

The next step is the painting. Again, you can see the huge scale of the floats.

He is spray painting Zeus...Zeus was Moses on a float from last year.

Here are some of the finished floats that will be in the 2010 parades.

Leviathan

Krewe of Bacchus Float

Several floats lined up in the warehouse.

The detail on the flowers on this float is amazing! They are painted with gold leaf that gives the illusion that the flowers are blowing in the wind.

Overall, I would definitely recommend going to Mardi Gras World. It was worth ever penny of the $18 admission fee, plus you get Mardi Gras beads. So, if you are ever in New Orleans, plan to go to Mardi Gras World...you won't be disappointed!