The day before lent begins we through a parade in the street with big beautiful floats. Many girls spend their whole life up until their teens (around 18-19) waiting for their turn to be dutchess, princess, or queen of one of the many parades. Their parents spend thousands to get them to be royalty in a parade and it’s so important to my town. They throw a ton of items from simple beaded necklaces two bedazzled coconuts and plungers. Local schools will gather their dancers and/or band and they will March with the parade. These parades last for weeks (of there is breaks in between) and Mardi Gras celebrations are not a singular contrary to popular belief. The Disney movie The Princess and the frog loosely focuses on this tradition. We haven’t had Mardi Gras in the past 2 years because of Covid-19 so I don’t have any pictures of myself at Mardi Gras on hand right now but I have found some pictures that capture its essence on the internet.
