So, What is Mardi Gras?

When people find out I am from New Orleans, one of their first question is always “so, do you go to Mardi Gras?” I always answer with “of course” and then we usually start talking about how much fun it is. Most people have the complete wrong idea about what Mardi Gras really is. They think it is just a wild, crazy party in the streets, which it is but they never know about the Mardi Gras balls, parades, floats, or the crews of the parades. Each parade has a different theme and a different crew. There is a king and queen of every crew which are elected by members of the parish that the crew belongs to. It is an honor to be the king or queen of a parade. My family belongs to a crew called Olympia. My sister and I were both maids on the crew in our senior year of high school. Each maid is presented with our father as our escort at the ball. The year following our first year as a maid we have to return to the ball as returning maids so that we can present the new maids. Mardi Gras is not all fun and games; it actually takes a lot of preparation.

When I went home for Mardi Gras last week, I brought 2 friends from school with me. They were so excited to go on Bourbon Street and see all of the crazy people but they had no clue what a parade actually was. Being from New Orleans, I don’t usually go to Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras because it is so crowded and full of tourists. I usually stay uptown and watch the parades because I know so many people on all of the crews. I did not get to see one parade this year. My friends didn’t think the parades would be fun because they didn’t know anyone. This is understandable but I just wish they could have seen the other side of Mardi Gras. Where we were the whole time was not the true experience of Mardi Gras, it was just the fun and games part.