[Music]
New Orleans Mardi Gras is more than just
a celebration before the Christian
season of Lent begins in this city
preparations for the big day begin weeks
and even months in advance
[Music]
early mornings are nothing new for
Baker’s but the pre-dawn workload grows
during Carnival season from January 6th
through Fat Tuesday New Orleans cake
Cafe and Bakery is a beehive of activity
where they make as many as 50 king cakes
a day here they make non traditional
goat cheese and apple stuffed cakes
there’s very old-school king cakes in
New Orleans they’ve been at it for 50 60
100 years some of them and they have a
loyal following the old-school King cake
has a tiny baby or other trinket baked
inside and whoever gets the trinket has
obligations such as by next year’s king
cake here the baby goes on the outside
the king cake is a traditional New
Orleans Mardi Gras pastry you’ll find
pastries like this all over the country
and all over the world that they’re only
served for a certain season during the
year in another part of town
Sally Hedrick and her son are making 150
or more ornate costumes these are for
the social organizations throwing the
lavish balls and parades some may go for
more than three thousand dollars it is
rewarding to see the women in these
costumes gleam but it’s more rewarding
to see the men because a man doesn’t get
to dress up in beautiful clothes he’s
usually in a tuxedo Hedrick works on
costumes year-round refurbishing ones
that took a bit of a beating during last
year’s Mardi Gras celebrations and
creating new works for a look back at
years past the Louisiana State Museum
lets visitors see more than a century
and a half of New Orleans Mardi Gras
traditions the oldest item in the
carnival collection is something that we
were very fortunate to acquire just a
couple of years ago it’s a ball
invitation that dates to the 1850s
the carnival exhibit at the Museum on
Jackson Square only shows the tip of the
iceberg
however the museum’s warehouse
periodically offers tours where visitors
can see the thousands of costumes and
other items the way that we celebrate
Mardi Gras now and for the last 150
years revolves around what we called a
cruise system there are all these clubs
that exist that are called Mardi Gras
cruise
[Music]
for the dozens of cruise spelled with AK
a lavish balls highlight Mardi Gras the
Knights of Sparta crew was founded in
1951 for the last 30 years they paraded
in the city and currently host a
masquerade ball and parade that falls on
the next to the last weekend of Carnival
season the cruise captain does not
publicly reveal his identity he says it
isn’t about secrecy I wear the mask
however because it is the tradition of
Carnival to mask to hide one’s identity
because when I represent my carnival
crew the Knights of Sparta I am simply
the captain one should not know my name
or Who I am belonging to or leading a
crew takes a big commitment it is very
costly to the members of the
organization paying dues buying the
trinkets the throws as we call them to
throw off the floats ball gowns for the
ladies
tickets to different functions and we do
it because of a sense of tradition
[Music]
as Fat Tuesday approaches warehouses
throughout the city come to life float
dins as they are called housed the
floats that can cost hundreds of
thousands of dollars to construct it can
take a month or more to build and
decorate the elaborate floats some of
which date back to the early 1900’s it’s
part of the economy here too it puts a
lot of people to work I mean you know to
make a float like this you need
carpenters you need auto student you
need welders you need tire people you
need mechanic so it’s a lot involved and
a final vital ingredient for mardi gras
is the music
grammy-winning artist Irvin Mayfield
from television you see these parades go
by people throwing beads but what you
really don’t see is that Mardi Gras
lives out in people’s houses and lives
out on the streets it lives out in the
halls and the parties and receptions and
it’s not a thing over one day so I would
say in terms of music you know it’s very
hard to have my degree without the music
and he says any musician growing up in
New Orleans is shaped by Mardi Gras
you’re a leg on the table that helps the
table stand up the music the food the
people for a young musician you wouldn’t
start playing music because of Mardi
Gras necessarily but if you are a
musician you will be involved in Mardi
Gras a certain way
[Music]
most New Orleans natives say anyone
hoping to understand Mardi Gras needs to
come back often and stay a while not
just for one day
[Music]
New Orleans Mardi Gras is more than just
a celebration before the Christian
season of Lent begins in this city
preparations for the big day begin weeks
and even months in advance
[Music]
early mornings are nothing new for
Baker’s but the pre-dawn workload grows
during Carnival season from January 6th
through Fat Tuesday New Orleans cake
Cafe and Bakery is a beehive of activity
where they make as many as 50 king cakes
a day here they make non traditional
goat cheese and apple stuffed cakes
there’s very old-school king cakes in
New Orleans they’ve been at it for 50 60
100 years some of them and they have a
loyal following the old-school King cake
has a tiny baby or other trinket baked
inside and whoever gets the trinket has
obligations such as by next year’s king
cake here the baby goes on the outside
the king cake is a traditional New
Orleans Mardi Gras pastry you’ll find
pastries like this all over the country
and all over the world that they’re only
served for a certain season during the
year in another part of town
Sally Hedrick and her son are making 150
or more ornate costumes these are for
the social organizations throwing the
lavish balls and parades some may go for
more than three thousand dollars it is
rewarding to see the women in these
costumes gleam but it’s more rewarding
to see the men because a man doesn’t get
to dress up in beautiful clothes he’s
usually in a tuxedo Hedrick works on
costumes year-round refurbishing ones
that took a bit of a beating during last
year’s Mardi Gras celebrations and
creating new works for a look back at
years past the Louisiana State Museum
lets visitors see more than a century
and a half of New Orleans Mardi Gras
traditions the oldest item in the
carnival collection is something that we
were very fortunate to acquire just a
couple of years ago it’s a ball
invitation that dates to the 1850s
the carnival exhibit at the Museum on
Jackson Square only shows the tip of the
iceberg
however the museum’s warehouse
periodically offers tours where visitors
can see the thousands of costumes and
other items the way that we celebrate
Mardi Gras now and for the last 150
years revolves around what we called a
cruise system there are all these clubs
that exist that are called Mardi Gras
cruise
[Music]
for the dozens of cruise spelled with AK
a lavish balls highlight Mardi Gras the
Knights of Sparta crew was founded in
1951 for the last 30 years they paraded
in the city and currently host a
masquerade ball and parade that falls on
the next to the last weekend of Carnival
season the cruise captain does not
publicly reveal his identity he says it
isn’t about secrecy I wear the mask
however because it is the tradition of
Carnival to mask to hide one’s identity
because when I represent my carnival
crew the Knights of Sparta I am simply
the captain one should not know my name
or Who I am belonging to or leading a
crew takes a big commitment it is very
costly to the members of the
organization paying dues buying the
trinkets the throws as we call them to
throw off the floats ball gowns for the
ladies
tickets to different functions and we do
it because of a sense of tradition
[Music]
as Fat Tuesday approaches warehouses
throughout the city come to life float
dins as they are called housed the
floats that can cost hundreds of
thousands of dollars to construct it can
take a month or more to build and
decorate the elaborate floats some of
which date back to the early 1900’s it’s
part of the economy here too it puts a
lot of people to work I mean you know to
make a float like this you need
carpenters you need auto student you
need welders you need tire people you
need mechanic so it’s a lot involved and
a final vital ingredient for mardi gras
is the music
grammy-winning artist Irvin Mayfield
from television you see these parades go
by people throwing beads but what you
really don’t see is that Mardi Gras
lives out in people’s houses and lives
out on the streets it lives out in the
halls and the parties and receptions and
it’s not a thing over one day so I would
say in terms of music you know it’s very
hard to have my degree without the music
and he says any musician growing up in
New Orleans is shaped by Mardi Gras
you’re a leg on the table that helps the
table stand up the music the food the
people for a young musician you wouldn’t
start playing music because of Mardi
Gras necessarily but if you are a
musician you will be involved in Mardi
Gras a certain way
[Music]
most New Orleans natives say anyone
hoping to understand Mardi Gras needs to
come back often and stay a while not
just for one day
[Music]
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