The folks with the Old Village Association of Port Royal put on plenty of celebrations for locals and our visitors throughout each year. They’re the group who are responsible for pulling off the Soft Shell Crab Festival and the OktoPRfest celebration annually; and, now they’ve added a Mardi Gras Parade & Party to the list of fun.
All are welcome to attend Port Royal’s first Krewe of Port Royal Mardi Gras “C’est Si Bon” on Saturday, February 17th.
The Parade will begin right at 1625 Paris Avenue, at 4pm.
The parade route will travel down Paris Ave to 11th Street to 11th Street, and will conclude at Shellring Aleworks for a Mardi Gras after party.
All parade participants must fill out an application ahead of time. Walkers, decorated bicycles, golf carts, floats, are all welcome. The application can be completed online here.
Don’t forget your beads!
At the after party, you will find entertainment and plenty of traditional NOLA food including crawfish, jambalaya, po’ boys, beignets, king cake, and much more.
Find all the info here.
Mardi Gras refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday.
Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday”, reflecting the practice of the last night of eating rich foods before the ritual Lenten sacrifices and fasting of the Lenten season.
While not observed nationally throughout the United States, a number of historically ethnically French cities and regions in the country have notable celebrations.
And now Port Royal is getting into the Mardi Gras groove, fittingly, since the area was discovered (settled, explored, or whatever you want to call it) by French Huguenot Naval Officer Jean Ribaut, when he led an expedition to the New World in 1562 that founded the outpost of Charlesfort on present-day Parris Island.
