Late Mardi Gras meets spring break for rowdy fete

[March 08, 2011]  NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Revelers bared flesh and threw beads on Bourbon Street until the sun rose on Mardi Gras to mark the annual pre-Lenten celebration that takes on so many shapes in New Orleans, from early morning parades to gay costume balls and second-line dancing of Mardi Gras Indians.

The Tuesday festivities start nearly as soon as the sun rises with the Zulu parade extravaganza, followed by Rex, the king of Mardi Gras.

This year, Carnival has seemed bigger and more brash than in recent years since Hurricane Katrina, perhaps because it falls this year during spring break.

Mardi Gras officially kicked off Monday evening when Rex, the king of Mardi Gras, was given the keys to the city by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu in a blowout on the riverfront that included fireworks, music, a fly-over by Dolphin military helicopters and Rex's pronouncement that "all commercial endeavors be suspended and that pleasure may rule day and night."

Monday, also known as Lundi Gras, saw the city actually shutting down its premier boulevard -- St. Charles Avenue -- because of the sheer load of trash lining it. St. Charles is the main parade route for the biggest themed parades -- Bacchus, Thoth and Muses. This year, super krewe Endymion also rolled that route after rain on Saturday forced organizers to move the parade to Sunday.

Lundi Gras night featured spectacular parades, too. Proteus, the second-oldest parade in the city founded in 1882, and Orpheus, a krewe organized by New Orleans singer Harry Connick Jr., both rolled Monday night. This year, Orpheus planned to feature several celebrity riders including actresses Jennifer Coolidge and Jennifer Finnigan, actor Jonathan Silverman, American Idol finalist Josh Gracin and the cast of HBO's "Treme."

Among the crowd on Bourbon Street Monday was Norma Breslin, 36, from Aguascalientes, Mexico. She stood on a balcony overlooking the street, throwing beads and loving every minute.

"It's fun, it's addictive," she said, as people below beseeched her for beads -- some lifting their shirts to bare skin in exchange for beads.

Outside the nearby French Market, ventriloquist and puppeteer Ron Workman entertained folks with his act: a 75-pound gorilla strapped to his back. It was irresistible, and person after person had to get a photo with the grinning 66-year-old from Wisconsin.

"This is Mardi Gras right here!" he exclaimed. "Her name is Priscilla Gorilla."

Up came a human statue colored completely in silver. The two embraced for the cameras.

"This is a Kodak moment!" Workman said, working the crowd of tourists.

And in Treme, an old Creole neighborhood that prides itself for its long history of music and African-American heritage, things were warming up, too.

On Monday, folks sat in front of the Backstreet Cultural Museum drinking and listening to New Orleans songs. The Krewe of Red Beans, a marching club with outrageous costumes, passed by to pay tribute to the music and Treme.

"Whatever the weather, we're going to have fun," said Henry Youngblood, a 78-year-old retired praline candy salesman well known in the neighborhood as a grand marshal for the Treme Social Aid and Pleasure Club, a second-line company.

Weather was on the mind of revelers after rain was in the forecast for Mardi Gras afternoon and heavy storms canceled some parades over the weekend.

[Associated Press; By CAIN BURDEAU]

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