Tuesday, 26 January, 2010 8:52
by Brandy Evans
Mardi Gras in Shreveport-Bossier: Louisiana's Other Side is elaborate, it's zany and it's just plain fun!
More than 400,000 parade-goers come out for one of the largest Mardi Gras celebrations in the state. The thing that sets Mardi Gras in Shreveport-Bossier apart from other celebrations is that it is a family affair. There are portions of the parade route on Clyde Fant Parkway that are no alcohol zones so that everyone is welcome to have a safe and fun time.
The parade weekends — Feb. 6 or Feb. 13 — both start the major parades in downtown Shreveport at 4 p.m. Floats line up on the corner of Lake Street and Clyde Fant Parkway and proceed south down Clyde Fant Parkway to Shreveport-Barksdale Boulevard, west to East Kings Highway and finally ending at Preston Street.
If you've never been to Mardi Gras in Shreveport-Bossier check out our video. To get a full schedule of Mardi Gras parades and events check out www.shreveportbossierfunguide.com Make plans to visit today. Book your hotel stay on our website at www.shreveport-bossier.org. Also, here are some Mardi Gras terms you need to know:
• BAL, (Bal Masque, Tableau Bal) A masked ball in which scenes representing a specific theme are acted out for the entertainment of club members and their guests, Krewe royalty is traditionally presented during the bal.
• CARNIVAL, From the Latin "Carnivale", loosely translated as "farewell to the flesh"; the season of merriment which begins on Twelfth Night (the feast of Epiphany), January 6, and ends at midnight on Fat Tuesday; the carnival season leads up to the penitential season of Lent in which fasting replaces feasting.
• DOUBLOONS, aluminum coin like objects bearing the Krewe's insignia on one side and a theme logo on the other side; first introduced in the 1960 Rex parade in New Orleans; doubloons are also minted and sold as souvenirs in silver, bronze and choisone versions.
• KINGCAKE, an oval-shaped, sugared pastry that contains a plastic doll hidden inside; the person who finds the doll is crowned king and buys the next cake or throws the next party.
• KREWE, The generic term for a carnival organization; first used by the Mystic Krewe of Comus which coined the word in 1857 to give its club's name an Old English flavor.