ST. LOUIS MARDI GRAS
2015
(All the events, times and dates to the St. Louis Mardi Gras are at the bottom of this blog)
2015
(All the events, times and dates to the St. Louis Mardi Gras are at the bottom of this blog)
Contrary to the popular beliefs held by many people who are deeper in their mental burrows than Punxsutawney Phil, himself, Mardi Gras is not "just one big drunken brawl with exposed body parts."
There truly is a 'bit' more to it than that, dear readers, and if you should be so kind to do some investigation of your own, I think any mental images of exposed goose-bump covered breasts can easily be exchanged with a perception that Mardi Gras is a celebration with hundreds of years of tradition involved.
Near the bottom of this blog, I will give times and dates of the events. The two events that I attend every year without fail is the recognized as the Largest Pet Parade in the United States (New Orleans can't beat us on this one!), and the Soulard Mardi Grad Grand Parade.
The Pet Parade started 17 years ago as a small group of people from the local...yes...gay bar, walking their dogs around the block. Each year, more and more people joined them to walk their dogs. Now, there can be well over 100,000 people in attendance. Most of the spectators and participants in this parade bring a furry friend along on a leash, but if you don't have a furry friend, or you think he / she might not appreciate the festivities, you can go along yourself, and look at the other's pooches. This parade consists of people walking their dogs. I'm not talking about single-file here. I'm talking about the full street wide, and it can take an hour and a half to over two hours for all of them to pass by! There is every breed from the largest Newfoundland or Great Dane to the smallest tea cup Chihuahua, and multiples of EVERY breed in between from the most common to the most rare. While the Beggin' Strips and Purina Companys have long since became the sponsors of this huge event, it's "Central Headquarters" is in the parking lot right across the street from Clementine's Bar and Restaurant. There is a famous Wiener Dog race held immediately after the Parade. (More info below)
In the late 1980's, I visited St. Louis a few times before moving here, and I inadvertently would drive through the Soulard area. I was naive to any activities in St. Louis, and this we before the invention of the internet. Before the Mardi Gras events got so big that they had to block off the entire Soulard area, we could drive through the Soulard area, even on parade day! Now, there are guards at every blockade crossing the streets, to ensure that no traffic enters the area. I lived in the Soulard area for 5 years, and I absolutely loved the Mardi Gras celebration in the area for several reasons. Two of those reasons were the fact that I never had to wait in line for a bathroom, nor did I ever wait in line for a cocktail, if I didn't want to. My home was 20 feet from the center of the action. I just stepped inside my front door to warm up if the weather was a bit brisk, as it often is, and to pour myself another Bloody Mary. For many reasons, I limit the number of drinks that I have while attending both the Pet Parade and the Grand Parade. One reason is that it is usually somewhat cold during this time of the year in the St. Louis area, and a cold drink on a cold day doesn't do anything towards keeping me warm and snug, if you know what I mean. On another note, I am usually widely recognizable for a particular stunt that I am known for, and I have to keep my mind clear, and I have to be alert at all times.
A visual aide (my bum is on the far right!)
Another reason is that if you have to go pee pee, you can wait in a line for up to a half an hour, and then if you are drinking more than a couple drinks, you will have to get back in that line the minute you leave the Porta Potty! So...I limit myself to two "Clementine's Bloody Mary's" for each event. I go to Clementines (now closed, but Bastille on the opposite corner of the same block makes killer Bloody Marys) for my Bloody Marys because they *do* know how to pour a drink! Two is all I need!
____________________________________________________
MARDI GRAS HISTORY
Even the lightly initiated should know that loosely translated, Mardi Gras = "Fat Tuesday".
Traditionally, Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday...followed by the first Friday in Lent, which is 7 Sundays before Easter.
Another way of looking at it would be that the Mardi Gras celebration started as a Catholic celebration, as a last "hurrah", or the last day they can eat, drink, and be very merry before Lent begins!
HOWEVER..... The Catholics quickly lost control of the event, and many other customs and traditions from many ethnic backgrounds have been so heavily intertwined with the Catholic traditions that they have become synonymous with Mardi Grad, itself.
The history of Mardi Gras in the United States, however, began in .... 1699! Ya can't survive and flourish that long without being steeped in history and tradition!
This is a link that goes into wonderful detail on the history of Mardi Gras:
http://www.novareinna.com/festive/mardi.html
As an example, here is an excerpt on how the traditional colors of Mardi Gras (purple, green and gold) were selected. It was an amazingly simple process, really, and it not at all steeped in Voodoo or any other mystery!
"The traditional colors of Mardi Gras are purple (symbolic of justice), green (symbolic of faith) and gold (symbolic of power). The accepted story behind the original selection of these colors originates from 1872 when the Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff of Russia visited New Orleans. It is said that the Grand Duke came to the city in pursuit of an actress named Lydia Thompson. During his stay, he was given the honor of selecting the official Mardi Gras colors by the Krewe of Rex...thus, did these colors also become the colors of the House of Romanoff. The 1892 Rex Parade theme ("Symbolism of Colors") first gave meaning to the representation of the official Mardi Gras colors. Interestingly, the colors of Mardi Gras influenced the choice of school colors for the Lousiana arch-rival colleges, Louisiana State University and Tulane University. Whe LSU was deciding on its colors, the stores in New Orleans had stocked-up on fabrics of purple, green and gold for the upcoming Mardi Gras Season. LSU, opting for purple and gold, bought a large quantity of the available cloth. Tulane purchased much of the only remaining color...green (Tulane's colors are green and white)."
________________________________________________________
THE KING CAKE
Another tradition that is celebrated in any area that recognizes Mardi Gras is the "King Cake". You can bake your own, or get one from many of the participating bakeries in the area. I think Schnucks in the St. Louis area sells them, as well as MacArthur's Bakery, and many, many more retailers that sell baked goods. The one that gets the baby or the bean is the King during next year's celebration!
http://www.mardigrasdigest.com/html/history_of/history_of_the_king_cake.htm
____________________________________________________
Beignet, done that!
Another tradition that I enjoy is eating Beignets (pronounced "bey-YAY"), or square, deep fried doughnuts, and drinking chicory coffee the morning of the Mardi Gras Grand Parade. (I know...I know... The joke is right there on the tip of your tongue, "Biegnet, done that!" (Rhymes with "Been there, done that!. When somebody in Louisiana says they're "Going out for coffee and doughnuts, they really mean "I'm going out for Beignets and Chicory coffee!
Since Chicory was originally used as a filler, to stretch the more-expensive coffee grounds a bit further, I have found that I can more-than-slightly over roast shelled peanuts, grind them in a spice grinder, and mix them with the coffee grounds for the same taste as Chicory coffee! Honest Injun! If you've never had chicory coffee, your taste buds are in for a much-anticipated awakening!
A detailed description of the Beignet / Chicory tradition:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/BeignetsHistory.htm
__________________
THOSE UNRULY RUFFIANS!
I will be the first person to admit that every single year I have attended this event in St. Louis, I have seen far more than my fair share of young men and women that are barely of drinking age (and some of questionable, at best!) that have had more than their fair share to drink before the Grand Parade even starts on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, but as a seasoned veteran of of 17 Mardi Gras seasons in the St. Louis area, I know which alleys in the Historic French (Soulard) district are hosting private parties that are getting a little too rambunctious, how to avoid them, and what time I should perhaps go home, myself., especially if you are a recognizable character!
I have missed only 1 Mardi Gras Day Parade in the 18 years that I have been going to this event, and that was due to a heavy snow fall the night before.
I like to think that I am a helpful individual, and I will give you some inspiration research the true beginnings of Mardi Gras on your own.
We are blessed this year to have Mardi Gras (and Easter, etc), fall later in the season. Most often, the Mardi Gras season falls in February, and worse, early February. The farther away from normal the normal winter season the date falls, the better our chances are of having good weather. Those are the hazards of hosting a major Mardi Gras even in the Midwest. Other than an occasional hurricane, the Mother of all Mardi Gras celebrations, New Orleans, does not have that problem. This is often the subject of heavy boasting and heated debate between Mardi Gras fans, but Mardi Gras St. Louis is the *second* largest Mardi Gras celebration in the United States, and the 3rd largest in the world, New Orleans being #1, Carnival being #2 and St. Louis being #3. Considering the 3 areas, and their traditions, St. Louis Mardi Gras is far younger than the other 2 contenders, yet undeniably has grown the quickest.
As of this writing, the entire Soulard area of St. Louis is now blocked off to car traffic early in the morning of the Grand Parade
The St. Louis Mardi Gras Grand Parade is scheduled to kick off at 11:00 AM, but they are notoriously late starting by at least 20 minutes to a half an hour. Any parade spectators should plan on being somewhere along the route as early as 10:00 AM, if you want to see anything more than heads in front of you, and folks with both arms in stretched far above their heads, jumping up and down, yelling, "Beads! Beads! Beads!"
In Summary: Even though they notoriously will start the parade late, if you are not parked several blocks out, and have walked in, and are not standing on the Parade Route by 10:00 AM - 10:15 AM, you won't have a good view.
As you can see in the above visual aide, I have no need to jump or scream for beads! In the 'old days', just a few short years ago, the float drivers would stop their floats, and the drivers, themselves, would get out of the trucks that were carrying the floats, and hand me the good, expensive beads. People would also jump off the floats to hand me beads, to make sure I got the beads that were intended for me, and that they weren't misguided into an unsavory character's lusty hands!
he he he
It is also a known Mardi Gras tradition for people that live in the area to open the windows of their second-story apartments in the area, and to draw large crowds by working the people waiting below into a frenzy, doing the "BEADS!" shout. I would simply work my way to the front of the crowd, and turn around, with my back side to the people throwing beads out the window. On more than one occasion, they would abandon their window perches, run down the steps to the first floor, and personally hand me a set of nice beads! I *do* know how to work a crowd! :)
On a similar note, before digital cameras were affordable and readily available, I could walk into any Walgreens in the area for several weeks after these events, and the person behind the photo counter would say, "You look familiar...would you turn around?" Then I would look over my shoulder, and see them nodding their head in recognition, "Yep. Yep. I've printed a lot of photos of your ass over the past few weeks!" Definitely - OMG! I guess I could be known in the area for WORSE things, ya think?
_____________________________________________________________
THE CINDY PRESZLER INCIDENT
A short bio on Cindy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Preszler
When I was in my 'bare butt in my chaps' days, I could stand on one corner of the Soulard area, and hundreds of people would pass by wanting pics taken of themselves kissing .... my bare ass!.... like the Blarney Stone in Ireland! It wasn't just straight women or Gay men that were wanting such a memento, an equal amount of STRAIGHT men were puckering up on my bubbly butt! Each time an obviously straight man would do the deed, before assuming my position, I would look him in the eye and say, "You know as well as I do, that if this wasn't Mardi Gras, and you weren't already half-lit, you wouldn't be doing this in front of your friends, at any rate!" We both had a good laugh, and they kissed ...the Blarney Stone!
Back to Cindy. She is, indeed, much shorter than she appears on TV. This little lady had a beer in one hand, and her huge wonderful sunglasses were on the end of her nose. She told the professional camera crew, "Turn off your cameras, and if you get this on film, I will have to kill you!" They reluctantly did as they were requested, and the handed her own personal camera to one of her crew, and said, "I have seen you down here for many years, and I will never forgive myself if I don't do this while I have the chance!" First, she stuck her head through my legs (me facing front, her looking through my legs backwards!) and posed for a photo, then she followed suit....she had a picture taken of herself, yes, kissing my Blarney Stone!
________________________________________________________
THE GRAND PARADE
(in Lego!)
(in Lego!)
The Grand Parade is usually the climax of Mardi Gras events. There are groups called "Krewes" that sponsor many of the floats, and local attractions, radio stations and bars, along with many other business also sponsor these huge floats that tower above the parade route. There are bands, both classic brass bands and rock bands. A biker club usually starts the parade off with their roaring Harley Davidson motorcycles, and that, along, is a sight to behold!
The parade always has a theme, and he floats are decorated cleverly to match the theme. Thousands of strands of trinket beads are thrown from the floats to a hungry crowd, arms in the air, screaming, "BEADS! BEADS, BEADS!" Because it is a public event, the folks on the floats might be dressed somewhat risque, but they have all their essentials covered. This parade can easily last 2 - 3 hours.
But...In my humble opinion, it's not "all about the parade". I will often stand down there on Broadway and watch the Parade for an hour or so, then I turn and walk through the ***THICK*** crowd, to 'go up into the Soulard neighborhood' where the people are having a good time!
Several years ago, the parade was small enough to go down a side street, Russel Ave. Russel Ave. is a side street when considering the rest of St. Louis City, but it is the 'main drag' in the Soulard area. While I still lived in the immediate area, this was the normal parade route, and the Fat Tuesday (evening) Parade Of Lights followed the same route. Now, the Parade has grown so fast and so large that they have to take the parade down Broadway, a 4-lane street at the eastern edge of the Soulard area. The Fat Tuesday Parade of lights now goes down Washington Ave. Since they moved the Parade of Lights, I have not attended this particular parade, but if the weather is not cold, snowy, or rainy, I might go this year. Many of the original floats are in this parade, but they have....lights!
_____________________________________________________________________________
MARDI GRAS 2014 PARADE and EVENTS INFORMATION
THE LARGEST PET PARADE IN THE WORLD
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014 at 1:00 PM
This is truly the largest pet parade in the world. If you want to 'walk a dog', registration begins at 10:00 AM, even though you really don't have to be registered to walk in the parade. Get there early to 'park and walk in', and to get a good spot along the parade route.
http://www.mardigrasinc.com/events/beggin-pet-parade//
The Wiener Dog Derby: (same day, after the pet parade)
http://www.mardigrasinc.com/events/weiner-dog-derby/
THE TASTE OF SOULARD
When: Feb 23 & 24, 2014
Several of Soulard's fine establishments offer samples of their signature dishes in this unique, create your own experience event.
Attendees are able to stroll though Soulard using the seven taste tickets from the ticket booklet to sample six signature dishes and one taste of Southern Comfort from the participating restaurants and pubs of Soulard.
Attendees are welcome to use the free trolley service on Saturday from 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM or walk the neighborhood on Saturday and Sunday. Veterans of this event enjoy creating their own pub crawl.
Booklets can be purchased in advance at any participating Soulard establishment or at the Mardi Gras Inc. office. Booklets are also available for purchase the day of the event at participating Soulard establishments.
(And now for this commercial break from Michael: )
*** HOWEVER *** Only in the past few years have the participating restaurants in the Soulard Area required the purchase of $30 tickets to enjoy the Taste of Soulard. This is the **only** "Taste of (Insert St. Louis area name here)" that requires the purchase of tickets. The Taste of the Central West End, Taste of Clayton, and the Taste of St. Louis does not (and I hope they never will) require the purchase of such useless tickets.
Since they have begin charging for tickets, which is a money-grabbing scheme, I have not fully participated in this event. Since the World's Largest Pet Parade is also taking place on this Sunday, and I am already in the area, I often stop by the few independent restaurants that have outside booths that are selling to the general public, and do not require spending $$ om a large amount of tickets, all of which you will never use. In this manner, I can still enjoy the offerings of these restaurants without purchasing tickets that I will never use. There is another "However"..... Since this event occurs over a 2 day period, if you plan on attending both days, you most likely could use half the tickets on one day, and half on the other day. BUT.... this is too much food for one day, and to eat at one time, if you know what I mean.
During this weekend, I often will stop by one of the restaurants and have a full lunch, as a 'normal paying customer'.... There are beads already flying, even though this is the weekend before the actual Parade, and a few of the restaurants and bard have live bands playing throughout the day. The musician in me enjoys stopping by and watching / listening to the bands.
The only draw-back to the thing is that if you take your pooch to the dog parade, you can only eat / drink from the booths outside the restaurants and bars. Absolutely no pets are allowed inside the establishments, even though this even is very pet oriented. I take Rudolph, my Pug to the parade, and I most often have to eat with one hand, and hold his leash with the other.
For more info:
http://www.mardigrasinc.com/events/taste-of-soulard/
THE ST LOUIS SOULARD MARDI GRAS GRAND PARADE
SATURDAY, Feb 14 (it's also on Valentine's Day this year!)
The Bud Light Grand Parade
The Bud Light Grand Parade
The Parade steps off at 11:00 AM, but the start is always about a half an hour later than the time posted. HOWEVER....you definitely should arrive early for a great spot on the route. It is usually necessary to park several blocks (up to a mile) away, and walk into the area. you should plan to give yourself enough time to park, walk into the area, and get a good spot before the parade begins. http://www.mardigrasinc.com/events/bud-light-grand-parade/
ALL St. Louis Mardi Gras links (Events, details, date(s) / time(s):http://www.mardigrasinc.com/
HAVE FUN !
- Michael
Very comfortable, informative, funny, and interesting read. I like it all...Josee
ReplyDelete