It may be six months until Fat Tuesday, but on Saturday, D.C.’s Chinatown looked and sounded like the Big Easy.
Floats and marching bands rolled down 7th Street NW as beads flew toward crowds lining the route, creating a scene more commonly associated with New Orleans’ Bourbon Street.
Among those reaching for beads was 4-year-old Caleb, who stood across from the grandstand on G Street NW.
Asked about his favorite part of the parade, Caleb told 小萝莉影视: “The music.”
“I love supporting the community and having my kids come out here and celebrate Mardi Gras during the summertime,” said Caleb’s dad, Jerome Packard.
The music was also a hit with paradegoer Jimmy Krakar, who gave a shout out to Prince George’s County’s Crossland High School marching band. He told 小萝莉影视: “The kids were getting funky.”
Krakar, who was joined at the parade by his wife, said he was there to support the group behind the parade.
“The does a great job in empowering the community and helping young people,” Krakar said. “And along the way they manage to have a very good time.”
For the last 10 years, the Krewe of Pyros has hosted a ball that draws thousands of guests to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center to celebrate New Orleans culture.
Along the parade route, traditional looking New Orleans-style umbrellas mixed with elaborate costumes. Among those dressed to impress was Calandra Corder, a New Orleans resident and member of the Krewe of Pyros, who wore a purple, green and gold sequined knee-length dress.
Corder said the group’s mission is to “spread what we call ‘the fire’, meaning our community serves events from D.C. to Louisiana.”
Along with having giveaways for prom dresses and backpacks, the Krewe of Pyros provides scholarships to District students who attend college in Louisiana and vice versa.
“We just wanted to bring that Louisiana culture here to D.C.,” Corder said.
With temperatures in the 90s and high humidity along the parade route, Parade Grand Marshal Rep. Troy Carter, who represents Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District [which includes New Orleans], said he felt right at home.
“They brought a lot of heat,” Carter said with a laugh. “I got off the plane. I said, ‘Wait a minute! I thought I left this.'”
Carter later addressed attendees at the Krewe of Pyros Fiyah Festival at Anthem Row.
Joining him on stage was his cousin, J.C. Walker, founder of the Krewe of Pyros, who said it was emotional to finally see the parade roll after it was postponed by January’s snowstorm.
“Oh, my God! You know I’m not quite grasping it yet, but it’s like overwhelming,” Walker said.
“To come through the streets of D.C. throwing, tossing trinkets, and to see the excitement on the people’s faces.”
Walker said he and his wife moved to the District during Hurricane Katrina, but she became homesick.
“I told her we’ll never miss a Mardi Gras event or anything. Well, lo and behold, we missed the first Mardi Gras,” Walker said.
“My wife was literally about to leave me and go back home.”
After coworkers encouraged him to “bring some of that New Orleans stuff here in the D.C. area,” Walker created what he described as an “authentic Mardi Gras group.”
“Education is at the center of their mission. We do scholarships. We also do a lot of community service and a lot of STEM programs,” Walker said.
“We’re going into the juvenile facilities and doing STEM.”
Walker said Mardi Gras is about connection and spreading love.
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