Viva Los Frijoles!

​Where else but in New Orleans would people decorate their clothes with beans and parade through town?

​We never knew that Mardi Gras was not just one day but many until we kept running into New Orleans residents in small parades around our neighborhood beginning on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6. Where we are living in the Bywater, every afternoon we heard the local high school bands marching around the neighborhood and often ran out to see them pass by.

As the days passed more and more people donned elaborate costumes and handmade floats in large and small parades through the local streets.  In January, the Krewe du Vieux marked the city's 300th anniversary in its very irreverent style.

On Lundi Gras, that’s Fat Monday for you non-French speakers, the Red Bean Parade got underway with people wearing clothes they decorated with elaborate patterns of beans.  A couple of brass bands heavy on the drums kept the party moving. The fun started at the the Marigny Opera House then paraded across town.

The parade snaked through the Marigney toward the French Quarter...

accompanied by a bean-encrusted buggy.

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Could they be outdone in their creativity on the actual Mardi Gras day?  You bet. We opened our front door in the morning to find hundreds of locals ready to have some fun.

Happy Mardi Gras!