A friend from my three-dimensional life, Michelle Duplichien, makes an annual pilgrimage to Mississippi &/or Louisiana for Mardi Gras. This year, she was kind enough to take pictures of the horses she saw there. Welcome, Michelle.
It was February 17th and very, very, very, cold.
There were two riding groups in this particular series of parades. I only caught the back of the New Orleans Cowboys (just the one pic of the group with burgundy jackets).
Most of the horse photos were of the Urban Cowboys.
The location was Metairie, Louisiana on Veterans Blvd. Here’s a map of the route for visual simplicity.
Parades have names and most of the time it is based on the krewe that organizes the parade. On this particular day three parades rolled on the same route consecutively. The parades were Argus, Elks Krewe of Jeffersonians, and then Jefferson Trucks (a parade of floats pulled by semi-trailer trucks). I’m fairly certain the Urban Cowboys were part of Argus.
Most groups try to do multiple parades. That goes for both walking groups and floats independent of a parade krewe. Usually walkers in a traditional float parade represent some organization whether it be amateur or professional. Besides traditional floats a parade can have marching bands (a good parade has multiple), dance studio groups, bands, and baton twirling groups. I can’t forget these guys, The Mobile Mystics [scroll down for photo]. They pass out paper flowers to ladies for the price of a kiss on the cheek. The previous list is not exhaustive of all that can be seen in a parade as each parade is unique. There are also parades like this one listed under the January 6th banner on Mardi Gras Parade Schedule.com.
The minions were on a float in the same parade.
Horse groups are not called floats. Think of floats as a mobile object meant to pull a group of people.
The parade style varies from location to location. The parades I experienced in Mississippi were very simple compared to those I saw in Metairie. The New Orleans parades are the most epic of all. To put it in to perspective, Mississippi parades had simple decorated, rolling “boxes” as floats compared to the elaborately decorated, seemingly sculpted New Orleans floats.
The following pictures are from the beginning of a parade in Gulfport, Mississippi. All parades begin with law enforcement vehicles with loud sirens usually followed by the organizing krewe’s banner and then military members carrying flags.
Virtual Brush Box 