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Barkus Parade 2025
Postponed by a storm, the legendary canine parade Barkus rolled the Sunday after Mardi Gras this year, giving Carnival a merry March reprise. The 2025 theme: “Vanity Fur: Barkus Rules the Runway!”
- photos by Andrew Simoneaux
Antoine’s Restaurant: A Crown Jewel in Carnival’s History
A tour through one of the city's most revered landmarks and their krewe-designated dining rooms stirs a sense of appreciation for the spectacle of Mardi Gras.
-by Kim Ranjbar
George Long: Carnival Paparazzo
For close to 50 years, the popular photographer has been capturing – and been captivated by – the city’s creatives and their costumery.
-by Doug Brantley
Krewe du Vieux Parade 2025
With the double entendre theme of “Krewe du Vieux is Revolting,” the 2025 parade floats included jabs at the oligarchy and tributes to Scrim, the famous runaway terrier.
- photos by Shawn Fink
The History of the Bourbon Street Awards
The epic Mardi Gras Day costuming contest got its start as a promotion to drum up business for a Bourbon Street diner.
– by Frank Perez
Carl Mack’s Mardi Gras Museum of Costumes and Culture
A xylophone player who visited New Orleans 40 years ago has become the impresario of Carnival costuming and founder of the Mardi Gras Museum – now in a new spacious location on North Rampart Street.
– by Dean Shapiro
Mystic Krewe of Barkus Parade 2024
Barkus met Barbie this year with a “Pawsitively Pink” theme for the 2024 parade, which rambled through the French Quarter on what turned out to be absolutely the Best Day.
- photos by Andrew Simoneaux
Krewe of Cork Parade 2024
Demonstrating exceptional stamina, the Krewe of Cork celebrates the world of wine, starting with a three-hour wine luncheon, then spreading all that good cheer through the streets of the French Quarter.
- photos by Ellis Anderson
Ser Maurye Aycock: Krewe of Cork's First Lady Lieutenant
King Patrick Van Hoorebeek's bacchanalian Krewe of Cork rolls into 2024 granting knighthood to their first female lieutenant in the organization's history.
-By Kim Ranjbar
Bohème Parade 2024
Bohème is a relative newcomer to the Mardi Gras parade scene, but this year - only their fifth time marching – the absinthe-minded krewe danced its way into the “Don’t Miss” category of Carnival festivities.
- photos by Melanie Cole
Chewbacchus Parade 2024
Although the theme of this year’s Chewbacchus parade was “Nothing to See Here,” our album with 80+ photographs proves differently.
- photos by Ellis Anderson
The Vibrant Life and Designs of San Nicholas
The unpublished memoir of San Nicholas reveals the tortured childhood he overcame to become a renowned Carnival costume designer.
– by Frank Perez
Faces of Mardi Gras 2023
A collection of some of our favorite Carnival portraits, photographed in the Quarter and the Marigny on Mardi Gras morning.
– by Ellis Anderson
Barkus Parade 2023
Storyboard: The 30th anniversary of the Mystic Krewe of Barkus parade had lots of tails wagging. The parade members and their human companions gathered in Armstrong park and then paraded through the French Quarter on February 12th. French Quarter resident and photographer Andrew Simoneaux, who specializes in pet portraits captured the parade participants and canine spectators in all their glory.
- by Andrew Simoneaux
A Treasure Trove of Vintage Gay Mardi Gras Images
The Louisiana State Museum discovers and acquires a collection of 820 color slides by a relatively unknown photographer documenting the LGBT+ midcentury celebrations.
- by Frank Perez
- images courtesy Louisiana State Museum, Joe Crews collection
The Colors of Kate McNee
Visit with this creator of distinctive Carnival headdresses in her Bywater home and studio, where both colors and ideas are given free rein.
- story by Harry Philpott
To Live in a Masquerade: Inside the Mask Market
On the weekend before Mardi Gras for the past 38 years, the French Market has hosted one of the most unusual art markets in the country. Meet a few of the makers behind it.
- by Kirsten Reneau
Joan of Arc Parade 2020
Joan of Arc Parade 2020: The Joan of Arc parade, the first of the Carnival season, celebrates the saint's birthday on 12th night marching through the streets of the French Quarter.
- photos by Ellis Anderson