Fat Tuesday in the French Quarter

Posted by Benson

If you were following the blog last year, you might have read my post about Mardi Gras.


If you did, you will probably remember the bit about my post-apocalyptic costume.  Every year I get together with a group of my 'Nawlins friends on Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras day) and we head down to the French Quarter decked out in full costume.

If my son thinks I look cool, I'm ready to rock!

Costumes are of course a staple of carnival, and during the entire Mardi Gras season you can see people in costumes of all kinds from a riotous explosion of Mardi Gras colors (purple, green, and gold), Halloween style sexy X costumes, and sedately decorative masks to the more eccentric varieties such as fully nude body painting (not pictured), undecipherable uses of neon tutus, and packs of like-minded revelers in themed costumes ranging from the slapdash to the absurdly elaborate.

Here's your standard Mardi Gras color overload.  They get worse, believe me.

Here are a couple of typical 'Sexy X' costumes.  It looks like Sexy Biker and Sexy Indian.
 

                                   

And here we have a couple of superfluous neon tutus.  Although I bet that tutu on the right is protecting us from an otherwise completely free show.

I belong to the "like-minded reveler" variety of carnival costume-wearer.  Each year my friends and I organize into a motley band of similarly-disguised inebriates and take to the streets of the French Quarter for as long as our legs agree to carry us.  Now, if you know anything about me you may wonder why in the world I would consent to do such a thing.  I am not a fan of large crowds, especially those that are noisy and energetic.  I don't attend live sporting events, I rarely go to concerts, and I harbor a keen dislike of theme parks. 
 
Fat Tuesday in the French Quarter draws one of the larger and more energetic crowds one can encounter short of a Syrian protest or an LSU home game.  Seriously, LSU fans have reputedly registered as an earthquake.  So what in the world would I be doing right in the middle of it?  

                  
     Bourbon Street on a normal night                          Bourbon Street on Fat Tuesday

The answer is that there is something magical about Mardi Gras.  Mardi Gras, in the grand tradition of carnivals throughout history, is a time to let go, a time to turn the world on its head and scrape up any change that falls out of its pockets.  Like any mask, the carnival mask is transformative, but it has, I feel, particularly special power on Fat Tuesday, especially if one is in a themed group.  

Here you have a two-for: Sexy X and a group theme!

A group of themed revelers is like an eye in a miniature hurricane.  It is like being in a rock star's entourage.  You are able to glide through crowds effortlessly, with even the most woefully drunk tourists giving you the type of deference paid to a minor celebrity.  You are the people they came to see after all, and everyone local can tell at a glance that you have friends with you.  People cheer, they pose for photos, camera crews stop you for interviews, and all the while you get to bask in the insanity that is Mardi Gras, safely nestled within your own private pack of miscreants.

It is a very interesting and always very unique experience, and one that I look forward to every year.

In my next post I will talk about the costume I am working on this year.