In New Orleans, the first day of parades in the Mardi Gras celebration was all but festive. It was Saturday February 25, and the sky was black and foreboding. Not only did the threat of thunderstorms ruin the mood of the crowd, it cancelled the entire Krewe of Endymion's parade. This particular parade is one of the most extravagant and celebrated of the entire Mardi Gras, and if it hadn't been for the tumultuous weather, this year would have marked its 40th anniversary.

While the first day of festivities, which would have marked the beginning of a sort of healing process of the hurricane-torn region, was delayed, the spirit of Fat Tuesday and New Orleans lived on in the snow-coated city of Burlington, Vermont.

The sky looked bleak that Saturday morning, and the afternoon appeared even worse. The snow fell with a silently heavy consistency for almost the entire day and night. By 1:30 p.m., Church Street, the main street in Burlington along which the parade would follow, was relatively empty, as the crowds waited indoors for the parade to begin.

“I'm struck not only by the number of people who show up for this event but also by the crowd's energy and enthusiasm as the floats pass by."

Through the flake-filled air, random jesters danced through the snow, children snuggled tightly into cumbersome layers of padding scuffled alongside their parents, and the Magic Hat Mardi Gras Sambatucada band played a rhythmic beat through the hazy snowfall. The purple, green, and gold banners of Fat Tuesday were almost shrouded in the inches of white from the unexpected storm.

At 3:00 p.m., when the parade officially began, Burlington came to life, and Church Street officially started celebrating the Mardi Gras extravaganza. The floats, organizations, and costumed participants began to promenade the street, but the first vehicle to roll down the afternoon's parade route was a small single-manned snow plow.

“Magic Hat's Mardi Gras in Burlington is the largest Mardi Gras celebration in New England,” says Sara Schnipper, a spokesperson for the Magic Hat Brewing Company. This year will mark the 11th anniversary of the company's festival, and while it commemorates the Hurricane Katrina tragedy, it does so in a traditionally upbeat fashion, which is fun and appropriate not only for adults, but for children as well. The Magic Hat celebration focuses more on family fun than the more salacious celebration in New Orleans.

“Our company held a fund raiser for Hurricane Katrina victims a little while ago,” explains Schnipper.“Instead of focusing on the tragedy during the day of the parade, we want to focus on celebrating the tradition of Mardi Gras. The money made from this year's celebration will go directly to Burlington's Women's Rape Crisis Center.”

Burlington's Mardi Gras celebration began on Friday with a dance party featuring the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra in the Higher Ground Music Club on Friday evening and ended on Saturday evening. On Saturday afternoon, the Sambatucada band performed in front of City Hall and afterward, the parade rolled down the newly expanded route. That evening the festivities climaxed with gumbo and Cajun Cuisine at clubs and restaurants throughout Burlington during, “Mardi Gras After Hours.”

The parade consisted of over thirty floats and passed alongside the cluttered sidewalks of Church Street. The crowd was filled with little children vying to sneak into the front of the crowd, people dressed in masks, costumes, and colorful paint makeup, and spectators struggling to snatch some of the over 200,000 plastic beads that costumed float riders were hurling at them. Of the floats that participated in the parade, some of the more interesting were a giant pink pig, a rock climber's wall, a float dedicated to Dr. Seuss' Seussical, and Ben and Jerry's Sundae Night Fever. Some of the floats were adorned by signs that read, “Build levees, not weapons,” and slogans of similar connotations in memory of the tragedy left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

This was the second year that Jessica Horvath, another junior at Middlebury College, has attended the Mardi Gras celebration. “This is only the second time I've been to the Mardi Gras parade in Burlington, but it's certainly an experience,” Horvath says. “I'm struck not only by the number of people who show up for this event but also by the crowd's energy and enthusiasm as the floats pass by. It's freezing outside and you can't feel your feet after the first 15 minutes, but people are still desperately trying to snatch the plastic beads and chocolate flying through the air. What's really great is that Mardi Gras here is much more open to all age groups. There are definitely a lot of kids in the crowd, and at the end of the day, they're also the ones wearing the most beads.”

Throughout the parade, spectators were covered in the thick snow that fell constantly. After the floats had all passed at about 4:15 p.m., the streets emptied and the crowd poured into the many shops on Church Street to escape the near zero-degree temperatures. The slush covered street held signs of the celebration; there were beads and masks of purple, green, and gold lay scattered all around. These colors represent the justice, faith, and power that embodies the spirit of New Orleans. A spirit that will continue to be celebrated no matter what unexpected struggles are placed in its way. A spirit that was mirrored in Burlington during this year's Mardi Gras extravaganza.

What was your favorite part of this year's Magic Hat Mardi Gras Celebration?

Over 200,000 strands of beaded necklaces were tossed, flung, and otherwise lobbed into space our of over 30 floats that Saturday. The newly expanded parade route proceeded down Cherry Street to the new destination at Pine Street . Thus this grand parade is now the “largest and longest yet witnessed in the northern hinterlands.”
-From Sara Schnipper, public relations representative of Magic Hat Brewing Company.

This year the parade raised over $15,000 for the Women's Rape Crisis Center of Burlington. That is $12,000 more than was made at last year's Mardi Gras celebration.

New Orleans' Mardi Gras Celebration 2006:

According to the Associate Press, this year's Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans showed the affects that Hurricane Katrina had on the region. Only about 350,000 people crowded the streets to celebrate. This number was below this year's estimate and far below the average 1,000,000 people that join the party years prior.

Most shops and bars reported a 40 percent decrease in the revenue accumulated this year. While the parades and carnivals celebrated in the city normally take place over a two-week period, this year's Mardi Gras lasted about half a week.

A Brief History of Mardi Gras

"Mardi Gras" or "Fat Tuesday" is a holiday celebrated in dedication to a French heritage. It is celebrated on the Tuesday that marks the beginning of the 47 days before Easter. According to the American Catholic Organization, although Mardi Gras is generally celebrated in New Orleans with two weeks of carnivals, parades, and parties, the true holiday lasts between January 6th and the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.

Fat Tuesday, as we know it today, began in New Orleans in the nineteenth century after years of Spanish ban of dance and partying was lifted by the United States in 1827. From then on, Mardi Gras became an annual tradition for the people of New Orleans and America. The three traditional colors of Mardi Gras are gold, green, and purple. The color's Catholic roots represent power, faith, and justice.