Our Mardi Gras Krewe Tactics
Growing up outside of New Orleans, in Chalmette, my childhood experience of Mardi Gras was very different that my adult experiences. I went to a handful of parades as a kid but didn’t really experience Mardi Gras week parades until high school. During those year high school and college years, in the early 2000s Mardi Gras involved walking the whole length of the Avenue meeting up with friends, and not staying in one spot for too long. I remember being the annoying teenager cutting back and forth sidewalk side to neutral ground side.
For the past five years, we have friends that have evolved into a Mardi Gras Framily. As a mom of two, this has made our Mardi Gras experience much more enjoyable. We have group texts to coordinate in the months prior, and methodical preparation the month before.
Lots of credit goes to our spot holders, which rotates between the husbands and the older friends who don’t have young kiddos.
Each person knows just what items they are responsible for – who is bringing what food, how many chairs, weather prepping items, and where we should try to find a spot on the two popular weekends (the locals weekend and IRIS weekend).
Our spot holders arrive in the early morning. Hoping to find a spot somewhere close to where our Krewe usually enjoys watching the parades the most, neutral ground side of course. Because with our Krewe, the end goal is to be able to hang out and enjoy the biggest free entertainment for the adults and kiddos! The hard work of proper planning pays off and allows us to not be stressed, and we can really enjoy the season!
Now we aren’t generally drop off and leave, we pay our waiting dues and hang out.
But this year, I was at home more with our four-month-old and loved seeing everyone’s setups. I even made it to a few parades with him.
So I’m curious …. what is your Mardi Gras framily’s tactics? Have you been somewhat nomadic and met up with different friends each year? Does your framily have a long standing spot, or do you just hope and pray for parking and walk up to the parade the hour before?
About Allison
Born in New Orleans and raised in Chalmette. I graduated from Mount Carmel in 2001 and moved back to Metairie with my husband in 2011 after living out of state for about ten years. I’m an RN who loves food and cooking. Two beautiful kiddos, ages 7.5 and four months. I love traveling and enjoy crime podcasts in my downtime.
