Durham Mardi Gras Parade and Celebration Festivities Begin

Why go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras when Durham Carnival celebrations are so spectacular?

Photo by Jessie Gladin-Kramer
www.jgkphotography.com

The 2013 Bull City Mardi Gras festivities will kick off Friday with a masquerade ball that will honor old traditions, create new ones and raise money to nourish future revelers.

The event is one example of how Bull City residents are embracing old Mardi Gras traditions and shaping the celebration into their own.

The 2013 Mardi Gras Parade and Celebration will start at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12, aka Fat Tuesday, at the CCB Plaza, 201 N. Corcoran St.  Parade participants are encouraged to gather at the plaza by 6:30 p.m.   The parade will end — but the party will continue — on Rigsbee Street near Motorco Music Hall and Fullsteam Brewery.

Durham Mardi Gras Group, a loose coalition of Mardi Gras participants and krewes, selected Mel Melton to serve as the 2013 king of the celebration and Rhonda Robichaux as queen.

Melton, a North Carolina native, owns Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse, and is a member of Mel Melton and the Wicked Mojos, a blues band with a zydeco twist. Melton sings lead vocal and plays the harmonica and rub board.

Melton said he is ready to help Durham build a Mardi Gras tradition centered on community.
“I am really excited,” Melton said.

Rhonda Robichaux, a New Orleans native and Triangle resident, leads the Rhonda Robichaux Band.   Robichaux, who describes her music as swampy, sultry and spicy with a taste of New Orleans, has shared the stage with New Orleans artists George Porter, Jr., Charmaine Neville, along with Will McFarlane, who frequently plays in Durham, and many others.

“I have to come all the way to Durham to become the queen of Mardi Gras,” Robichaux said.
On Friday, Feb.1, the Krewe of Ariadne “in its guise as a social aid and pleasure club,” is collaborating with The Scrap Exchange to host the The Ariadne Charity Masked Ball from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.  The family-friendly event will be held at The Scrap Exchange and will Benefit PORCH Durham, which supports the Backpack Buddies program that supplies backpacks stocked with food to needy children.  The event will include live music from the Bulltown Strutters and the Blue Tailed Skinks, along with an opportunity to embellish a mask or create festive attire in the Scrap’s Make & Take room and to whack at the Mardi Gras “Piñata.”  A food or money donation required for admission, and people who use the Make & Take room will be asked to pay The Scrap Exchange’s open studio rate of $5 per person.

New Orleans social aid and pleasure clubs grew out of benevolent societies, which would help residents in its community pay rent, buy food and clothes and assist in other areas, according to neworleansonline.com.  Social aid and pleasure clubs are the organizers, originators, and sponsors of New Orleans’ second line parades, according to the website.

On Feb. 9, Durham revelers will have another opportunity to make or embellish their costumes and listen to live music at Motorco. There will be kid-friendly live music and costume making from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Costume making will resume from 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. and live music will extend to midnight.
Materials will be provided by The Scrap Exchange with generous help from Music Exploratorium.

For more information on events and things to do in Durham, visit the Durham events calendar.

Prepare for Durham Mardi Gras celebration 2013

The Durham Mardi Gras Group is once again asking people to prepare for some serious revelry.

A loose coalition of mystic societies is planning the 2013 Durham Mardi Gras Parade and Celebration on Feb. 12, aka Fat Tuesday.  We are asking new and current krewes to recruit and strategize in an effort to make 2013 a banner Bull City Mardi Gras.

Parade participants should plan on meeting around 6:30 p.m. at the CCB Plaza, 201 N. Corcoran St. The parade is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. The parade, which will be on the sidewalk, will follow the same route as last year, ending on Rigsbee Street near Motorco Music Hall and Fullsteam Brewery.

Details and schedule are still under development, but those interested in participating should have a representative of their krewe send an email.

For updates join the Durham Mardi Gras Facebook Group, and confirm your attendance on the event page.

Prepare for Durham's Mardi Gras Celebration

The Durham Mardi Gras Group invites the Bull City to prepare for the revelry. 

A loose coalition of mystic societies are planning a Durham Mardi Gras Parade and Celebration on Feb. 21, aka Fat Tuesday. Parade participants should meet before 7 p.m. at Major, the bull stationed at CCB Plaza, 201 Corcoran St. The parade, which will be on the sidewalk, will end on Rigsbee Street at Motorco Music Hall and Fullsteam Brewery. Krewe’s, such as the Banished Fool’s Durham Krewe and the Mystic Order of Socratic Monkeys (aka MOSM), are assembling their themes and costumes. 

Durham Mardi Gras Group hopes others will take notice and assemble krewe’s and costumes.

One MOSM member (membership is secret) described the Durham parade as a respite from the toll of callous politics, war and the Great Recession as young and old, rich and poor are equalized in the masked Mardi Gras anonymity and the pursuit of folly. 

The Bulltown Strutters, a community band that inspires revelry with every beat, will lead the Feb. 21 sidewalk parade with their vivacious music and songs. The march will end and the celebration will continue on Rigsbee Street. 

“This should be the beginning of a tradition that is bigger than any one person or bar. This is about Durham rocking harder than anyone, anywhere,” says the Mardi Gras event’s facebook page description. “This is about the Durham family coming together for a night of fun and revelry.”

To help residents prepare for the festivities Happymess Art Studio is hosting two opportunities to customize a mask, a parasol, and other accessories used in the annual tradition. On Saturday Happymess is hosting a “DIY Masquerade: Prepare for the Bull City Mardi Gras Parade and Celebration” from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at its arts studio, 718 Iredell Street. 

The party will include Mardi Gras music, king cake, and the début of the unofficial local Mardi Gras libation the “Durhacain.”  A $5 donation gets you in the door and gives you access to materials--glitter, beads, trinkets-- and glue guns. Masks to decorate will be available for purchase, as will a limited number of parasols.

On Feb. 19 Happymess will bring the Do-It-Yourself Masquerade to Motorco’s DtownMarket from noon to 5 p.m. Fullsteam is hosting a decorating party before the parade.

For more information about the Mardi Gras celebration go to the facebook event page.

Durham Celebrates...Everything

Durham celebrates everything; just take Marry Durham as an example. A marriage celebrating the love Durham citizens have for their community on March 19th. Given this love of celebration, it’s only natural that some local restaurants have dinner specials in honor of Mardi Gras.

Mardi Gras, translated Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday, is the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which starts on Ash Wednesday. Don’t miss this chance to enjoy all Durham has to offer.

Friday, March 4:

The Broad Street Café is hosting a Pre-Mardi Gras celebration with Skeedaddle. This energetic six piece band will play Hawaiian, hokum and viper tunes, but they’ll also have some guests to join in for Cajun tunes as well. New Orleans inspired dinner specials are on the menu and guests are encouraged to wear beads, fun hats, and a smile.

Tuesday, March 8:

Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse is throwing a huge party for Mardi Gras. There will be two party rooms, four bands, a mask contest, face painting, caricatures and an art gallery. Food will be served in the restaurant only, and all the big festivities in the adjacent ballroom. Guests are encouraged wear masks and Papa Mojo’s will provide the beads. For ticket information and for a performance schedule, visit their website.

Blu Seafood is also offering Creole and Cajun classics on their Mardi Gras themed menu served from 5:00-10:00. Menu items will include shellfish gumbo, jambalaya, and New Orleans inspired cocktails.

Bandido’s decided not to pass up the occasion for celebration either and is featuring shrimp and crayfish enchiladas with chipotle cream sauce as a lunch and dinner special. They will also have drinks specials and offer customers beards.  Check out there offer on http://www.durhamncdeals.com/.

The Pinhook is offering Cajun dance lessons taught by Jack and Sandra Wolf at 8:00 (perhaps a good way to exercise off some of the dinner special calories) and at 9:00 the Shamu Garcon band will take the stage to play high octane Cajun dance music.

Don't miss out on all the celebrations Durham has to offer, visit wwwdurhameventcalendar.com to see a comprehensive list.