Since the first Mardi Gras in New Orleans in 1857, elaborate floats have paraded through the city of New Orleans on the Tuesday before Lent. It is one of the largest public carnival parties in the world. Thousands of people fill the streets to watch the parades of colorful floats and to catch plastic beads thrown into the crowds by the "Krewes" on the floats. Marching bands and dance teams come from all over to perform, and social clubs and groups of artists and organizers spend practically every month of the year preparing floats and celebrations. More about the history of Mardi Gras can be read on this link. Sadly, Mardi Gras parades have been canceled this year due to the pandemic, but as a substitute, many homeowners have decorated their own home fronts and porches as if they were floats, with different themes. To see a news video about the innovative way homeowners are doing this go to this link.
On our trip to New Orleans, last January, my husband and I took a tour of the Blaine Kerns Mardi Gras World, which is a 300,000 square foot working warehouse located along the Mississippi River, next to the New Orleans Morial Convention Center. Kern Studios, the world leader in float creation, has been a part of Mardi Gras history since 1932. Now the family-owned and operated business designs and builds floats for festivals and celebrations all over the world.
Their warehouse is enormous! As a visitor, you get the opportunity to walk around the entire grounds and watch the artists at work. They work all year to sculpt, paint and decorate over 500 floats for a normal Mardi Gras year.
Their sculpture medium is styrofoam, which is covered with paper mache, and then painted. Styrofoam is used so that the giant figures made for the floats remain light in weight. The detail achieved is amazing.
Inside this room is a giant piece of styrofoam which a robotic machine will sculpt, using a 3D pattern programed into the robot's computer.
The robot was nicknamed "Pixie" after a former long time employee.
It is used to make extra large sculptures, 60 feet or longer, in a method called digital fabrication.
We were able to stroll up and down the warehouse aisles inside Mardi Gras World.
These are just some of the many float figures we saw....
...and more.
I believe this figure, that was once a sculpture of a person from the movie "The Matrix," was in the process of being repainted to be made into a cowboy figure.
We saw many heads and bodies being repurposed this way
Floats were also being constructed from wood...
...and then painted and decorated with 3D sculptures.
The floats are pulled by trucks in the parade...
...and riding on the floats are the krewes--who are comprised of local social clubs/organizations that fund a float each year. Wearing costumes and masks, they wave to the crowds and throw beads and trinkets as the floats pass the crowds. Multiple Mardi Gras parades take place for two weeks before Fat Tuesday.
Mardi Gras in New Orleans is a wonderful celebration and hopefully the parades will return next year!
If you'd like to a recipe for a Madri Gras specialty King Cake that I make -- click here.
If you'd like to see my recipe for a Gluten
Free Seafood Gumbo cooked in a slow cooker-- click here.
PS:... some good news...
I had the first dose of the covid vaccine! When Colorado approved the next age group availability of 65 and over, I qualified, and I diligently searched online until I found a local grocery store pharmacy that had available appointments. I had no symptoms afterward except for a bit of tenderness at the injection site. I was given an appointment to come back for my second dose in 28 days. I had the first dose on the same day my husband received his second dose. He had no adverse symptoms either, except for some tenderness at the injection site. We felt a lot of relief to get the vaccine, as we knew our age made us more vulnerable to more severe illness from the disease. We'll still be wearing our masks and social distancing for awhile, until more people receive their vaccine, but it was a definite step forward for us towards getting back to normal!
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