A guide to celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans
New Orleans' major parades, the ones with marching bands and masked riders who throw beads and other trinkets from elaborate floats, begin this year on Feb. 17.
Most follow a route along historic St. Charles Avenue onto Canal Street, the broad downtown boulevard at the edge of the French Quarter — although the giant floats of Endymion, the celebrity-studded procession set for Feb. 25, lumber through the Mid-City neighborhood.
A week later, sci-fi, fantasy and horror fans don costumes evoking any of a variety of pop culture icons from Ewoks to zombies for the Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus stroll through the Marigny neighborhood.
Costs including membership fees, costumes and "throws" (beads, little stuffed toys, etc.) can be hefty for the major parades.
Some travel agency and hotel packages include a four-night stay with a spot in Harry Connick Jr.'s Feb. 27 Krewe of Orpheus parade for more than $4,000.
Some of the most intricate, elaborate and, sometimes, outrageous are on display at the annual Bourbon Street awards at the intersection of Bourbon and St. Ann, where prize categories include best drag and best leather.
Feathered masks, funny hats and boas are available at souvenir shops in the Quarter and from vendors who wheel their goods up and down the main parade route.
"Business really starts picking up two weeks before Mardi Gras," says Dennis Villadeleon, a costume designer at New Orleans' Southern Costume Company, which rents and sells costumes.