Everyone should experience Mardi Gras at least once in their life. It is absolutely insanity. It's a lot of fun but you really have to be smart and keep control of yourself. The cops are not messing around and if they see anyone acting too crazy, off to the jail they go. It's a great experience but I think I only needed the one time.
Everyone thinks of Mardi Gras as a big party on Bourbon Street but it's more that that. The real Mardi Gras is a family friendly affair that the whole city enjoys. The parades are beautiful, spectacular affairs of light and colour. The beads flow freely from all floats and if you are lucky, you may just catch a coconut at the Zulu parade.
There is, of course, the big party on Bourbon with all the bawdy delights, or opt for a more locally flavored celebration on Frenchmen Street and wander from club to club with local revelers, All in all, Mardi Gras is what you make it!
Catch beads, see celebrities, beautiful floats and costumes!
Wear comfortable shoes and I would suggest not bringing a purse (raising your hands alot for beads and someone can easily reach into your purse). Catch parades on Canal and try to get by a bathroom or port a potty. Most hotels won't let you in to there bathrooms unless you are staying there.
Pro Bono Publico is the motto of the REX organization that provides the premier parade on Mardi Gras day. Mardi Gras starts officially on January 6 and ends at Midnight on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. Tourists come by the hundreds of thousands for the last few days of the season in which there are colorful parades where hundreds of float riders throws beads and other trinkets to the crowds. Whether you are eight or eighty you will have a fun time. This is a family oriented season, despite the rowdy behavior often reported. Unfortuantely, the average visitor doesn't experience the most important part of Mardi Gras, the formal dress balls which are private to members and their personal guests. One may hear of wild happenings, but the city fathers restrict the "adult" misbehavior to the confines of Bourbon Street.
We went to New Orleans during Mardi Gras as it fit with our work schedules, and it was worth it to be there once, but we won't go back again. Being there during and after the carnival was like two separate experiences - it is crazy during Mardi Gras, and more for the 20 something crowd. We enjoyed the parades we went to, and the people we met. It was hard to find places to eat, and many were even closed in the French Quarter, which made those which were opened even more challenging to get into. We enjoyed the city post-carnival and will go back again to experience the charm of this wonderful city.
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