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The tension is building, construction underway. Viewing stands have been erected and banners advertising ‘Clean Bathrooms $2’ hung. The city is awash with gold, purple and green. The final touches are being added to colourful floats and Krewe’s are maintaining the secrecy of their chosen themes. All about New Orleans the anticipation is rising; Mardi Gras is almost here.

Carnival in the Crescent City is simply the world’s biggest party. Tickets are free and everyone is invited. From the night of the Epiphany (January 6) to its culmination with Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday, N’awlans is awash with balls and beads, debutantes and debauchery, parades and pirates, costumes and kings, and floats and flashers.

They come from all over the world to ‘kiss the flesh goodbye’ and to revel in an event made famous by its pageantry, colour and excess. It was William Thackery who said, “New Orleans is the city in the world where you can eat and drink the most and suffer the least.” No visitor to the Big Easy leaves without a full stomach and a heavy head, and there is no better time to wallow in excess than Mardi Gras.

So how did it all begin? For the uninitiated, New Orleans was a French colony set up by Pierre Le Moyne in 1699 on the eve of Ash Wednesday. Aware that his fellow Frenchman back in Paris were celebrating Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras), he named the landing spot Pointe du Mardi Gras and his group partied the night away. How fitting New Orleans was founded in such a way, setting a precedence for a city known world over for its parties.

The first carnival ball was held in 1743, but it wasn’t until 1857 that the first Krewe (the old fashioned spelling of ‘crew’) took to the streets in a lighted torch parade and set the tone for modern Mardi Gras. They had two floats, one bearing Comus the Greek god of festive mirth, and the other bearing Satan. As the years passed, more Krewes formed; they were secret societies and paraded in their own neighbourhoods. The members were masked and the identity of the chosen king and queen was never revealed. Some modern day Krewes still uphold this tradition.

The parades stated out as fancy processions to Krewe balls; some still are. At the ball, the Krewe’s royalty is presented to the members in elaborate coronations. Ruling over all is the King of Rex. On Lundi Gras, the day before Mardi Gras, the mayor makes a proclamation granting King Rex reign over the city for Mardi Gras.

The first African-American Krewe of Zulu was set up in 1909 in parody of Rex. Now, the King of Zulu is also part of the mayor’s ceremony. Louis Armstrong brought great attention to the Krewe of Zulu by being king in 1949. King Zulu’s coconut is the most prized ‘throw’ (a trinket tossed from a float), more valuable than the usual beads and doubloons (Krewe coins).

But it was the rise of the Super Krewe that turned Mardi Gras from a local event into a major tourist attraction. Marked by their large memberships, enormous floats, numerous riders, and celebrity king, the Super Krewes have turned Mardi Gras into an overwhelming spectacle. Every year the bar is raised as Super Krewes try to outdo each other with their pageantry and floats. Recent celebrity kings of Super Krewe Bacchus have included Nicholas Cage, Jon Lovitz and Larry King.

Most of the Krewes base their characters on Roman and Greek gods and goddesses. However, the Krewe of Muses have recently taken to parodying other Krewes. Last year, their floats honoured Jercules, the god of bad ex-boyfriends, Rexcess, the god of too much, and Exposia, the goddess of trash and tourists.

Although Mardi Gras is the main day for parties and parades, the parade season proper begins 11 days earlier. Parades happen all over the city and at the same time, so it’s necessary to choose the parade you want to see. The variety is somewhat overwhelming, and it’s easier just to set up camp in the packed French Quarter. Here, the balconies offer the best vantage point. Businesses rent their balconies and hotels offer exorbant rates for rooms opening on to Bourbon Street.

At street level it’s more cramped but more fun. As the floats pass, people shout “Throw me something, mister” in the hope a rider will toss them a string of beads or a doubloon. Party success is measured by the amount of beads strung around your neck. Another way to score a ‘throw’ is to flash. Note, though, that this only happens in the Quarter, as everywhere else in the city you will be arrested for public indecency.

New Orleans is the one city in America where you can drink in the streets, as along as it is from a plastic cup. Order your bucket-sized cocktails ‘to go’. Locals also warn to be prepared for any weather; maybe a hurricane on the first weekend and boiling days on the second, but always with the chance of rain.

Need a break from a parade but don’t want to lose the party spirit? Head for the Louisiana State Museum, which exhibits a collection of Mardi Gras artifacts and traces the event through history. But you’ll have great difficulty escaping the revelry. Even inside the museum you will hear the whoops and shouts of revellers. Across the river, floats from past and present can be viewed at Blain Kern’s Mardi Gras World.

Beyond Mardi Gras, N’awlans is a city for the soul. There are sprawling parks, art galleries and museums, and of course great food and live music. A must on any visit is to ride the Streetcar along St. Charles Avenue, taking in the mansions and gardens of elite Orleanians.

But always return to the French Quarter, where the streets are narrow and packed, and the parades are loud, colourful and endless. Your neck will feel the strain of too many beads and your plastic cup is empty again. But the music lifts you, and the colour dazes, and you’ve got enough beads already but as the float glides past, you make eye contact with a rider and shout, “Throw me something, mister.”

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