Text your Krewe: Here’s your guide to Mardi Gras Columbia.

New Orleans is celebrating its 300th birthday this year, but it may difficult to gather enough PTO days to make it down to the Big Easy for Mardi Gras to celebrate. Enter: Mardi Gras Columbia.

The 8th annual event is hosted by Columbia’s volunteer-based Krewe de Columbi-Ya-Ya, a.k.a. Ya-Ya (a krewe = a social club, often associated with Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans) – in collaboration with Soda City and City Roots – and includes a 5K race, parade + free festival, all going down tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 10 at City Roots in Rosewood. It’s super grassroots – family + pet-friendly, and still free – where everyone’s welcome.

So pull on your mask and fill up your jug with Milk Punch – here’s your COLAtoday guide to Mardi Gras Columbia – including 4 can’t-miss moments.

Prepare ✊

Join a Krewe or start your own // Ya-Ya is the OG krewe of Cola (with a membership waiting list to show for it), but Krewes can be formed from any group, including neighborhoods (like Earlewood’s Krewe du Vieux Bois), businesses or friends looking to celebrate the spirit. Get folks together + create a fun krewe name (like a trivia team name, but on a King Cake sugar high).

Don’t be afraid of the weather // The party goes on rain or shine (Saturday’s forecast calls for a 60% chance of rain, but we’re still down to boogie.) Put on mud-friendly boots + bring a rain jacket.

Let your freak flag fly // Wear whatever you want – bonus points if it’s purple, green + gold. Mardi Gras has seen everything from tutus to banana suits.

Race 🏃

Walk or run the Lagniappe 5K // 8 a.m. registration; 9 a.m. start // soccer fields near Owen’s Field airport // $30/runner; $5/dog // “Columbia’s FUNNEST 5K,” so they say. People dress up in costumes + run with their dogs (who are usually also dressed up) – and get a River Rat beer at the finish line. Lagniappe = a French word for “a little something extra,” often used in NOLA.

Can’t-miss moment 1️⃣: Crossing the line of the Lagniappe 5K, getting a River Rat beer + seeing these fluffs with their beads on. 👇

Parade 📿

Ride/bike/walk in (or watch + cheer for) the parade // 10 a.m. lineup; 11 a.m. start; free // Rosewood // One of the only parades that you can just dress up, show up + jump in to roll with it (maybe even form a second line). Think: beads, masks, costumes, the whole nine-yards. Including a front end loader float. This year’s Grand Marshal is Bakari Sellers (CNN commentator + former state rep), and it’s all led by Tom Hall (a founding member of Ya-Ya) driving a tractor.

Or just set up your lawn chair and mini cooler on a side street of Rosewood and watch the shenanigans. (Some residents even have a full breakfast in their front yards while they watch.)

Can’t-miss moment 2️⃣: Don’t miss the end of the parade when Soda City Brass will have a special song for Heroes In Blue in the street, and then lead everyone into the festival.

Festival 🎉

The festival is the main event // 12-6 p.m. // free // City Roots // According to a Krewe member, “Dogs and all sorts of characters are welcome.” This is where you’ll find the music, plus cash beer bars + food trucks.

Music 🎺

Boogie to ~17 bands on 4 stages // Local + regional bands include Those Lavender Whales, Flat Out Strangers, Whiskey Tango Revue, EZ Shakes, Alarm Drum, Black Iron Gathering, Big Sky Revival, Sandcastles, Soda City Brass Band, Tom Hall and the Plowboys, Devils in Disguise + more. Here’s the lineup + where each band will be. 👇

Stream some of the bands’ songs here.

Can’t-miss moment 3️⃣: “Le Chanson de Mardi Gras” by The Plowboys is about as authentic a Mardi Gras song as you’ll ever hear. Also catch their versions of late blues legend R.L. Burnside’s “Going Down South” + NOLA gumbo-rock godfather Professor Longhair’s “Going to the Mardi Gras.”

Food + Drink 🍤🍻

Abita beer flowin’ // Abita – the king of beer in Louisiana – usually has ~5 beers on tap, plus a kid (and adult)-friendly root beer. Look for the seasonal Mardi Gras Bock. And don’t forget to bring cash for food + drink.

River Rat will also be on-tap (what’s a party without an 803 IPA?), plus some domestic beer.

For food, look for local and statewide food trucks + vendors, including:

• Brain Freeze Italian Ice | Italian ice, ice cream, kettle corn, cotton candy
• Carolina Cookin’ | menu ft. crawfish po’boys, gator sausage po’boys, mac ‘n cheese egg rolls
• Farm 2 Table | peep photos of their catering here
• New York Famous Hot Dogs | menu ft. specialty hot dogs + sandwiches
• Pop’s Pickles | gourmet pickles
• Rob’s Kitchen BBQ | sample menu ft. crab cakes, shrimp, fish
• Sonnie’s Refreshments | fresh-squeezed lemonade, seasonal hot drinks, pork skins
• Snobar Southeast | sample menu of alcohol-infused popsicles + ice cream

Bourbon’s food truck has made appearances in the past with gumbo, eggplant jambalaya and other creole-inspired goodness. Fingers crossed.

Royalty 👑

Meet the King + Queen // Each year, Ya-Ya (like many krewes) crowns a new King and Queen to lead their mission of giving back to the community. ~$200,000 has been donated to local nonprofits by Mardi Gras since its inception.

This year’s Queen is Kassy Alia, president and founder of Heroes in Blue – the statewide organization promoting positive police + community relationships, founded in memory of Alia’s husband,Forest Acres Officer Greg Alia, who was killed in the line of duty in 2015. All proceeds from Mardi Gras 2018 will go to Heroes in Blue to further that mission. Local musician + retired intellectual property attorney Bentz Kirby is this year’s King.

Can’t-miss moment 4️⃣: Watch for the inevitable royal dance from the newly-crowned King + Queen. Meet them – they’re really cool people – and compliment their crowns. Ya-Ya.

TBH, I have an extra special place in my heart for Mardi Gras. I became part of the Krewe a couple of years ago through friends and met my boyfriend in a tussle over who got the milk punch jug next. I love volunteering to pour beer here every year – it’s such a high to see everyone rolling into the festival smiling with the music jammin’ in the background – and the outfits are always entertaining. (Plus: I’m treating this year’s fest as a practice round for a trip with friends to NOLA’s Jazz Fest in May. 🤘)

Let’s just hope the chance of rain decreases before Saturday. If not – we’ll party anyway.

⚜ Let the good times roll,

–Chloe

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