Yes, I will be there and you'd be missing one hell of an all day party. I was actually down there yesterday (went to pick up my brothers car from night before, no drinking and driving) and we had lunch at McGurk's. Man has that place blown up, the beer garden is amazing now. Anyway yesterday was the taste of Soulard and the somewhat official start of Mardi Gras, although we really don't get it cranked up until next Saturday.

Imagine this Xing, standing on Broadway at the bottom of Russell. To your left is the skyline to your right is the brewery, both about a mile and a half from your current position. Now imagine almost 700,000 people filling that space plus when you turn to look up Russell you see the same thing. Get some beads, wear something that shows your personality and come on down and get your drink on this coming Saturday. Fat Tuesday is also pretty wild, much much smaller maybe 40-60,000 but it's much more intense and can get out of hand.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that hundreds of thousands of people packed Soulard on Saturday for the Mardi Gras celebration. Organizers and police agreed that this was the largest crowd in the local event's 25-year history.



<A HREF="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... A">Weather helps swell crowd at Mardi Gras parade</A>

By Diane Toroian Keaggy

Of the Post-Dispatch

02/06/2005



Though "laissez le bon temps rouler" - let the good times roll - has long served as the Mardi Gras motto, a more suitable slogan may be "vive la difference."



Hundreds of thousands of revelers packed Soulard Saturday, showcasing their own unique ideas of fashion, taste in food and sense of tradition. Instead of foam cups, they sipped hurricanes out of fish bowls and footballs. Wide-brimmed fedoras crafted from what appeared to be brightly dyed raccoon hair outnumbered Cardinals caps by 10 to 1.



<A HREF="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... A000272C4A">>>> read more</A>

St. Louis Knows How to Throw a Grand Party for Mardi Gras



by Betty Magrath, SLFP.com

photos by Bob Moore, SLFP.com

? 2005 Saint Louis Front Page





St. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), February 5, 2005 - Predictions of unusually warm weather held true for the main event, the Charter Communications Grand Parade, Saturday morning in the historic Soulard neighborhood, south of downtown St. Louis. Mardi Gras organizers worked nonstop behind the scenes preparing for perhaps the largest parade crowd ever in the history of Mardi Gras in St. Louis.



Prior to Saturday, signs of heavy security began appearing throughout the neighborhood. The St. Louis Police Department installed surveillance cameras throughout the area and set up command posts and check points for underage drinkers. Visitors were asked not to bring bottles, coolers and backpacks. They were also reminded that Soulard is a residential area and to mind their Mardi Gras manners while enjoying the party. Nearly 700 port-a-pots were in place along the parade route.



Early Saturday morning, the sun quickly warmed the empty streets of Soulard. Areas for parade-goers were clearly marked by barricades and orange plastic fencing. The only signs of activities were vendors scrambling to put final touches on white tents and unloading the last of many boxes of beer and food.



South of the construction on the new Busch Stadium, Mack Bradley, Mardi Gras Minister of Information, was very busy passing out instructions and answering questions from volunteers at the staging area on Cerre Street.



Past celebrations have drawn nearly 400,000 people from other states for the Mardi Gras celebration. "I think we are going to have a great crowd this year," said Bradley. "This is also going to be the biggest parade we've ever done as there are approximately 115 floats. It's going to be sixty degrees and sunny. We are going to throw more than a million and a half beads along the parade route. So if you come down here and don't catch beads, it's not our fault," he laughed.



From its humble inception as a private party in 1980 led by ten people, the celebration has grown to an event claimed by city boosters and Mardi Gras Inc. to be the second largest in the country, next to that of New Orleans.



Organizers say this event is nothing like New Orleans. "The St. Louis event is really different. We don't want it to be the same. We want it to be our own," emphasized Bradley. "In New Orleans, the Krewes themselves do their own parades. Here Mardi Gras Inc. organizes the parade, produces the event and the Krewes do the floats. It has a very different feel to it and it is distinctively St. Louis."



Laissez le Bon Temp Rouler! (Let the Good Times Roll)



Several hours later, hundreds of thousands of Mardi Gras revelers began arriving, laughing, shouting and wearing beads and outlandish hats. The crowds filled the quiet neighborhood streets and spilled out into Broadway. Standing shoulder to shoulder at the fence, it was the place to meet friends and make new ones, share past Mardi Gras memories and beads. This year, many parents brought their young kids to experience the fun, creative, and sometimes very flamboyant parade. They also came to catch beads.



The JOIA Samba Percussion group enthusiastically led the Mardi Gras Parade featuring Grand Marshall Dong King, the cast of Les Miserables, and colorfully decorated floats on flatbeds, marching bands, honor guards and over 3,000 marching Krewes.



From the staging area at Cerre Street, the parade headed south on Broadway to 7th Street and continue past Soulard Market to Sidney Street, just north of Anheuser Busch Brewery.



Young and old, stretched out their hands screaming "Throw me some beads" as the colorful floats passed. With temperatures in the upper fifties, many in the crowd wore little more than t-shirts and several pounds of beads around their neck. Others wore unique Mardi Gras costumes featuring feathers, huge beads, hats and masks.



Many Mardi Gras revelers never made it to the parade, opting instead to patronize the neighborhood bars along Russell, Menard, Lafayette, Geyer, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12 Streets. Local establishments put up huge white tents, fired up barbecue pits and presented live bands for everyone to enjoy.



Top floats from the Grand Parade will particapte in the "Light Up the Night" Fat Tuesday Parade, on February 8, beginning at 6:30 p.m., The floats will roll through Downtown St. Louis from 18th and Locust Streets. The parade will move east on Locust to Tucker Blvd, then north to Washington Avenue and continue east to Laclede's Landing.



As Mardi Gras continues to grow in St. Louis, so does its economical impact on the region. This year, organizers spent about half a million this year to produce Mardi Gras. "It's a little more than $20 million generated in the region by four biggest events including the Beggin' Strips Parade last week, the Mayor's Ball last night, the Grand Parade today and the Fat Tuesday Parade this coming Tuesday night," stated Bradley.



Bradley agreed that the St. Louis Mardi Gras may becoming overly commercial because a lot of people in town are recognizing that this is something they want to be associated with. "One of the ways you become or remain a great city is by having great events and bringing people into the city to have fun and do exciting things."



"It's also takes hundreds of volunteers to do this event and everything else," stated Bradley. "Everyone in the parade itself is a volunteer. They receive a great t-shirt, bragging rights and we throw a big party for them when we finish. They have a great time."



By Wednesday, the streets of Soulard will be swept clean and the last of broken beads and trash picked up. For Mardi Gras organizers, it's also a day to celebrate another great party. "We sleep on Ash Wednesday and the day after that, then we start planing for next year," laughed Bradley.



http://www.slfp.com/ETC-MardiGras.htm

I heard that there were about 300,000 people at Mardi Gras on Saturday.



About 348,000 people live in St. Louis City.



Interesting.

I heard 500,000, and even 700,000, which are even more interesting numbers. Quite a party. Supposedly, St. Louis's Mardi Gras may have been bigger than New Orleans this year because of bad weather down south.

Katrina could make Mardi Gras here a bit bigger

By Martin Van Der Werf

Of the Post-Dispatch

09/08/2005



They don't want to seem too opportunistic, but some local companies and event planners stand to take advantage of New Orleans' misfortune.



Local Mardi Gras planners expect February's events to be much larger than usual, with the pageantry and debauchery in New Orleans left in doubt by Hurricane Katrina. The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission expects to announce, as soon as next week, the first meetings that are relocating to St. Louis.



HRI Properties, which is based in New Orleans but has a significant presence in St. Louis, now is looking at an even larger market than before for rehabbing buildings in the Big Easy.



"Few understand the structure of the city, the sociopolitical background of the community like we do," said Ron Silverman, a senior vice president for HRI, which developed the Renaissance Grand Hotel here and is converting a Cupples Station warehouse into apartments. "I do believe in the long run this will be a very positive thing for our company. I hate to put it that way, but that's our business."



St. Louis' Mardi Gras has touted itself as the nation's second-largest celebration.



"This is not how you want to go from No. 2 to No. 1," said spokesman Mack Bradley. "We are getting a lot of interest, but it is a delicate matter."



He says meetings are being scheduled with hotel and convention officials to make plans for crowds beyond the hundreds of thousands that gathered in recent years for the parade and other events in St. Louis. In the middle of that, Soulard Mardi Gras is having a fundraiser Sunday at the Casa Loma Ballroom to benefit hurricane victims.



New Orleans has long been one of the top convention cities, but that business is shut down for the near future and might be permanently hampered by images of victims dying at the convention center, their bodies left in corners, covered in sheets.



"We've been talking with dozens and dozens and dozens of groups," said Mary Hendron, a spokeswoman for the convention commission. "I would think 10 or 12 pieces of business will be coming together soon."



She said that no groups or companies are ready to announce that they are moving their gatherings. "They don't want to be seen as if they are taking their business away from New Orleans and hurting it even more."

I have read before that St. Louis has the 2nd largest Mardi Gras in the US and under the circumstances and by default becomes the largest. However, we need to be very cautious about this. Making statements like this will only breed resentment. There is a lot of anger and hurt out there. I don't want to see America taking a blow at St. Louis. It is easy to make the comparisons. The Mardi Gras, the Mississippi River, French colonial history, etc. However, if St. Louis comes ever so slightly close to presenting itself as the New New Orleans, America will be very angry and reply with a hard slap. Think of a widower introducing his new wife to his children as their new mother. No matter how kind and loving the new wife is, the children are sure to be resentful. We are entitled to promote our unique history and culture, but we must be careful not to present ourselves, no matter how delicately, as a replacement for New Orleans or as New Orleans Lite. Let's not make St. Louis the Big Uneasy.



Chesterfieldkid - this rant was not directed towards you - I know you are just the messenger. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Mobile, AL had the second largest I thought.



Anyway, Soulard Mardi Gras would do well by having only one goal and it's not to become #1. Although the quality of the event has improved, it is a long way from becoming an authentic festival. Quality is job one.

I'm just wondering where everyone reporting that St louis has the 2nd largest Mardi Gras is getting their information (Including the Post). I don't mean to disparage our revelry in Soulard, but I remember reading a few years ago that in terms of attendance, both Shreveport, La and Mobile, Al had larger celebrations. Pensacola, Fl, Galvaston, Tx and Lafayette, La also all have large Mardi Gras'. I too think growing in terms of quality should be job one. I'm just not sure the reporting in this case is accurate.

Mobile, Alabama, has the oldest Mardi Gras celebrations in the United States. I always assumed it was second-largest, and it probably was for many years.



This thread leaves me uneasy, too. It's hard to even think about anyone "benefitting" from the devestation in New Orleans and Mississippi, though I guess scheduled conventions must find replacement locales.



It's great that Soulard Mardi Gras is holding a fundraiser, though.

Those who would have gone to New Orleans for Mardi Gras will likely have displaced effects on multiple alternate locales. Those who normally drive to New Orleans for the festivities will likely more so go to Shreveport or Mobile. But those that timed a big city convention to coincide with such festivities may more so pick St. Louis. Of course, many may just opt to sit out a year. Still, every single Mardi Gras celebration nationwide must be sensitive to the recent tragedy.

Ok , I have to take a breath in here too...



I went to the University of South Alabama in Mobile and lived on the Alabama / Florida coastline for 7 years prior to relocating to STL.



Mobile is the Oldest home for Mardi Gras. It all started there.



It also has technically the 2nd largest in the country - as for "true" Mardi Gras. They have two weeks of parades, balls and celebrations. Parades are held in the day and at night and are beautiful with lighted floats and extravagant costumes/floats etc...



STL technically has the 2nd largest (in terms of attendance) big Mardi Gras Parade and festival - which is one day and filled with trashy and crappy floats. Nothing in comparison to a "true" Gulf Coast (Mobile and New Orleans) Mardi Gras season (not just one day).



STL has brought back the Fat Tuesday night parade downtown in the last two years - which is nice - but somewhat disappointing - same floats as the day parade over the weekend and scaled down.



So anyway...

Yes, it IS great the STL has Mardi Gras, but let's not compare Apple's to Orange's here.



Case in Point:



MOBILE MARDI GRAS









ST. LOUIS MARDI GRAS

I wholeheartedly agree with Expat. The last thing we want to do is compare ourselves to New Orleans.



Maybe the best thing we can do is dedicate Soulard Mardi Gras to the city of New Orleans. The entire theme could pay homage to the great city. Shirts and beads proclaiming love for New Orleans!

I think it's time for St. louis' floats to improve, DRASTICALLY. That picture is so true, our floats like like Hoosh-bash's on wheels. We should also have all the high school marching bands like New Orleans. We should obviously not promote St. Louis as being the new Mardi Gras headquarters or whatever, what a disaster that would be, but we could improve ours a good amount. St. Louis does have, in sheer numbers, the second biggest, but I'm sure Mobile is far more authentic. St. Louis is almost like New Orleans younger brother as a city. We gained a great amount of culture from N.O. even our Veiled Prophet Ball/ Fair was an idea created to emulate the festivals/ balls of N.O. too bad it's now called Fair St. Louis, but that's another story.

I don't see why everybody is so worried about offending the country or native New Orleanians (?) in this discussion. Here are the facts (or the way things are seen by most people)...New Orleans is Mardi Gras. Seeing as how Mardi Gras is a french celebration, and New Orleans is authentically french, it doesn't matter who has the oldest or the largest...Mardi Gras is New Orleans thing. Everything else can only be second best.



Will St. Louis participation get a bounce from New Orleans destruction? Sure, but so will Memphis, Houston, etc etc etc. Baton Rouge doubled its size overnight. We aren't talking about Baton Rouge taking advantage of the situation. It's not taking advantage, it's providing an alternative for a city that is, for the most part, destroyed.



We don't know if the city will ever come back, and if it does, to what degree. So St. Louis should do what a lot of people are doing, and provide a nice alternative for the time being.



St. Louis can surpass New Orleans in terms of attendance or whatever...but it will never be the same Mardi Gras that is (or was) held in New Orleans.