When I woke up this morning I could hear the party music playing, and I knew it was the day of the Samedi Gras parade in New Toulouse and I had a date with my friends in the Krewe of Bast. Oh my, was it a blast! And I didn’t have any of those blackout moments for the first time I can remember!
Photo credit: Jane Moreaux
Kristine Jinx-Kristan built the Krewe of Bast float. It was so festive! It was decorated like a circus, and I got to ride the trapeze under the big top! Our float had circus stands, and colored stripes, and cats (of course), and circus balloons that the cats played with like toys.
Photo credit: Nikita Weymann
You can see a lot from the trapeze on a parade float. I saw the Royal Float turn over, and I thought that the monarchy was ruined. But no, it was just pushed over a bit so they could work on it. And finally we found out who was the Carnival king—it was Blake. His costume might have given him away, but seriously I didn’t have a clue before. King Blake had a beautiful throne and a satin float, and when he rode it, he looked quite kingly.
Photo credit: Maggie Hawksby
We had visiting floats from 1920s Berlin; from MariKesh, Mondrago; and from Europa Wulfenbach. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Frau Jo Yardley, Callidus Weydelich, and Baron Wulfenbach riding in the parade!
Photo credit: Jo Yardley
The visiting floats were so special. The Berlin float was an actual bar from Berlin on wheels, and the Berliners had their own party on their float! The Berlin float didn’t start at first, until the Berliners got off and pushed and got it rolling again.
Photo credit: Jane Moreaux
The Mondrago float was a fantasy creation, with dancing girls and a flying elephant bearing Moorish coffeepots. Halaa! We will all need strong coffee tomorrow!
Photo credit: Jane Moreaux
The Wulfenbach float was a Biergarten, with special embassy flags announcing its passage, and its riders— including Baronin Wulfenbach herself—tossed special souvenir beer steins into the crowd.
Photo credit: Maggie Hawksby
At the front of the parade was the Krewe du Canard’s Cup & Harp float, with a beer barrel dispensing plenty of Irish stout and a lovely harp.
Photo credit: Maggie Hawksby
Then there was the beautiful Krewe des Flambeaux float, with lovely ladies, torches and flaming crowns, and beautiful white horses driven by Capt. Pazzo Pestana.
Photo credit: Jo Yardley
In the back of the parade was the beautiful Alice in Wonderland float built by the Krewe TrouDeLapin. It had a teapot and a teacup and a teaspoon and a chess piece, and it was so fancy. Its riders and talented builders, the Whitefalcons, were dressed as the March Hare and the Red Queen.
Photo credit: Maggie Hawksby
The Krewe des Zombies Float was a fancy cloth thing with tango dancers. Miss Soto Hax was dancing naked on top. She was twirling her firesticks, and she looked like she was casting some kind of spell to make the floats move!
I must tell about the wedding that took place on our Bast float! Kristine’s friend Skeksis brought his lady Debbonair for the ride, and they got partnered right on the float today! There was Skeksis, juggling his knives, while I was hanging above on the trapeze, tickling them all with my hair, and KK was doing acrobatics on the back of the huge kitten. Little Debbonair was standing there quietly and sweetly on a circus stand, Jane and Jimmeh waved at the crowd, and Niki did backflips in front of the float all way around New Toulouse. And we did not have a clue that he was proposing to her! Happy Valentine’s Day, Skeksis and Debbonair!
Photo credit: Nikita Weymann
During the whole parade and the afterparty, DJ Carter Denja played sweet tunes and gave a running commentary, reviewing the parade on the radio while playing Mardi Gras music. She announced each float and told a little about it. When we finally made it to the town square, the party really broke loose! Everyone was dancing and congratulating each other, and it was so fun to see.
Photo credit: Jo Yardley
Zippedy said he didn’t believe in krakens, while sitting on one. Then Niki brought a whole wheelbarrow full of krakens. Or maybe that was a hallucination? I do not think so. There were tests and chants about who belonged to Krewe Bayou, and apparently everyone belongs, including krakens, if they existed. Jack Mondieu fell asleep in the royal outhouse. And at one point, the Berlin bar float decided to drive itself down the street. “It’s a Samedi Gras miracle!” shouted Henry Payne.
Photo credit: Maggie Hawksby
After dancing madly for a while my krewe, I landed softly in the arms of the mayor and danced all night long, just hanging there on his arms. “Liza dances weightlessly,” he said, since I am a ghost. I hope he didn’t notice that I nodded off a bit here and there, because the parade was fun, but it was exhausting too, hanging there in the trapeze for so long!
See plenty more Samedi Gras photos by Jane Moreaux, Maggie Hawksby, Jo Yardley, and ChuChu Laverne!
The Ghost of Liza Veliz fell in love with New Toulouse at first sight. She publishes books by various authors; find them at her reading cafe on Shotgun Row.