The world's longest Mardi Gras float: the Endymion Crewe's tribute to the old Lake Ponchartrain amusement park

Not for the clown-phobic.

http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DbCVxnr5AB8k%26feature%3Dshare



• Cheating of course. That was not one float but a bunch of underdecorated floats hitched together.

• How are things like that paid for? Does some tourist-attracting organization give budgets to the float and costume makers, or do all the people on the float have to tithe?

• Happy Mardi Gras, bitches!

• All the people on the float tithe. Some of the richer floats sometimes help poorer krewes but in general, it's a huge financial commitment of thousands of dollars per year.

• The long floats have to be in segments, R1 because they travel and TURN. It's not a straight-line parade rout. And this parade marches through a huge Hall at the Convention Center where the Ball is held. The floats follow a bunch of twists and turns inside the Hall, throwing beads and trinkets. It's spectacular.

• [quote]How are things like that paid for? Does some tourist-attracting organization give budgets to the float and costume makers, or do all the people on the float have to tithe? The city doesn't pay for the parade (though of course it does for police, security, etc.), and it's actually illegal to have commercial sponsorship for a parade in Orleans Parish -- which is why you never see a float with a "Kodak Presents" sign on it or whatever. New Orleans could probably pay for all of Mardi Gras by allowing sponsors, but the residents are proud of paying for it themselves. Carnival group (krewe) members pay a lot of dues, and then pay even more for their costumes and for the privilege to ride (the trinkets and throws can be expensive). Some struggling krewes quietly sell places on the floats to out-of-towners in order to make a little extra money.

• I'm standing here in an alley off Chartres getting a blow job from a college guy who had one too many hurricanes. I told him I'd give him some beads, and he's about to get them. Trying to get a photo uploaded to post but I'm kind of distracted.

  New%20Orleeeeeens%20and%20loving%20it

• Also Corporate sponsors mean a certain amount of throws will have logos and commercials on them. Ditto the floats. The people who ride aren't interested in being shills. It's for the pride and culture of the city. It costs a fortune to be King or Queen of a Krewe. People do it and then display their costumes in their homes. Mardi Gras Indians also create and pay for their own costumes.

  http://www.mardigrasindians.com/