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Houses are now parade floats for Mardi Gras in New Orleans
There won't be parades this year. But across New Orleans, the resilience and creativity of its residents is on full display.
When the parades and festivities that mark Carnival were canceled due to COVID-19 last fall, New Orleanians found another way to celebrate. Within weeks, hundreds had signed up to decorate their homes as elaborate house floats to replace traditional parade floats. To check them out in person, use the Krewe of House Floats map.
Scroll to see these creative floats and learn more, courtesy of USA TODAY's American South.
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Photo courtesy of Michael DeMocker
Neighbors on Bell Street in the Mid-City neighborhood created themed displays representing famous New Orleans women like the late chef Leah Chase, complete with smoking gumbo pot, as New Orleanians create “house floats” to celebrate the Carnival season after the pandemic cancelled the traditional parades.
Photo courtesy of Michael DeMocker
Neighbors on Bell Street in the Mid-City neighborhood created themed displays representing famous New Orleans women like VooDoo Queen Marie Laveau.
Photo courtesy of Michael DeMocker
A display called "Bayou Bouquet" in the Mid-City neighborhood.
Photo courtesy of Michael DeMocker
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, another casualty of COVID, is celebrated on a JazzFest-themed home that backs up on the Fair Grounds where the traditional music festival is staged.
Photo courtesy of Michael DeMocker
A brightly lit home on Napoleon Avenue in Uptown.
Photo courtesy of Michael DeMocker
A circus-themed display, one of the many elaborate presentations among the stately homes on St. Charles Avenue in Uptown.
Photo courtesy of Michael DeMocker
A dinosaur-themed display entitled “Dino Gras on the Avenue”, one of the many elaborate presentations among the stately homes on St. Charles Avenue in Uptown.
Photo courtesy of Michael DeMocker
Another view of the dinosaur-themed display entitled “Dino Gras on the Avenue" on St. Charles Avenue.
Photo courtesy of Michael DeMocker
A streetcar rattles past a jester-themed display entitled “Maison MASKquerade”, one of the many elaborate presentations among the stately homes on St. Charles Avenue in Uptown.
Photo courtesy of Michael DeMocker
A closer look at the jester-themed display entitled “Maison MASKquerade."
Photo courtesy of Michael DeMocker
Bernie and his mittens wait for a parade that will never come in a display entitled “Maison MASKquerade."
Photo courtesy of Michael DeMocker
Author Maria Clark stands among a cacophony of kitsch on her front porch in Algiers as New Orleanians create “house floats” to celebrate the Carnival season after the pandemic canceled the traditional parades.
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