#CarnivalSeason is officially open with the enchantment of Joan of Arc's parade ! At @visit_hnoc, we raised a toast to our shared History ! #MardiGras #NolaStrong pic.twitter.com/R5piPngFbX
— Rodolphe Sambou (@RodolpheSambou) January 8, 2025
In the Christian liturgical calendar (work with me, here), Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season on January 6th. But the next official ‘holiday’ season — Easter — is tied to the lunar calendar, so the date of ‘Mardi Gras’, announcing the start of Lent, falls anywhere from early February to the second week of March. This year, it’s on March 4th, which gives the New Orleans krewes (& the tourism board) a less-crowded-than-usual schedule for the various parades.
(Jehanne la Pucelle, supposedly born on January 6th, seems like a very appropriate patron saint for the much-beleaguered city named for her; she was executed by fire for ‘having blasphemed by wearing men’s clothes, acting upon visions that were demonic, and refusing to submit her words and deeds to the church because she claimed she would be judged by God alone’. Despite widespread veneration across generations and the globe, the Catholic hierarchy remained sufficiently insecure about her behavior that she wasn’t officially canonized until 1920.)
St. Joan of Arc parade last night in front of the St. Louis Cathedral. (snippet)
It was nice to see crowds there and a lot of police presence. Thoughts of those who were killed or hurt last week were not far from our thoughts, as many vigils have been held in the Quarter.— Toni McGee Causey (@tonimcgeecausey1.bsky.social) January 7, 2025 at 12:18 PM
New Orleans is a city marked by tragedy. But don’t call locals resilient https://t.co/Aqt4GhxpJ2
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 8, 2025
She ran around in silver sparkling shoes, her faux chainmail tunic shimmering in the freezing breeze, maneuvering horses made of paper mâché, a giant green dragon, and sheep constructed from milk cartons.
Antoinette de Alteriis was preparing with hundreds of others to put on the Joan of Arc parade, a joyous, freewheeling kickoff to Carnival season.
Just a few blocks away, people wept and laid flowers and crosses at the site of a horrific truck attack that killed 14 people only six days earlier. A memorial to the dead stretched for half a block.
“That’s a hard thing. How do you reconcile that with having a parade?” de Alteriis said. “Here’s how we reconcile it: We chose hope.”
Countless times in the past week, politicians and outsiders have praised the city for its ability to bounce back. New Orleans has faced tragedy again and again, perhaps more than any other American place.
Locals wince when people praise the city’s “resilience.” They say they’re exhausted at being asked to endure the systemic problems and inequities and government failures.
Mark Schettler, a veteran bartender, said he prefers to think of this parade, and all the ones that will come after it, as an act of defiance that inspires others to follow, to act. That, he said, is what the city needs most right now.
“We’re so sick and tired of having to be resilient. How about for once things just work?” Schettler said. “But as long as I have two middle fingers I will always be waving them around defiantly.” …
From Doug MacCash, ‘Arts and entertainment writer at The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate’:
Joan of Arc parade — one of my very favorites! pic.twitter.com/Lx4sjj0e6d
— Doug MacCash (@dougmaccash) January 8, 2025
Suffragists getting ready for the Joan of Arc parade pic.twitter.com/abdL5YYXE5
— Doug MacCash (@dougmaccash) January 7, 2025
Members of the Funky Uptown Krewe parade as Twelfth Night kicks off Carnival season, in New Orleans, Louisiana https://t.co/jFuDggFxxR 📷 Eduardo Munoz pic.twitter.com/qkRoDBM9av
— Reuters Pictures (@reuterspictures) January 7, 2025
The most “Only in New Orleans” thing you will see today.
The NOPD motorcycle leading the Joan of Arc parade caught on fire.
And how does the crowd help get things under control? Throw beer and cocktails on the blaze!
Happy Carnival, y’all🟢🟣🟡 pic.twitter.com/JaQEspz9tt
— Andrés Fuentes (@news_fuentes) January 7, 2024
War for Ukraine Day 1,050: Glide Bombs on Civilian Targets in Zaporizhzhia
Jay
Thank you, Anne Laurie.
We need some joy,………………………………..
MagdaInBlack
Sacrificing your beer to put out a police vehicle on fire. Now that’s real “back the blue.”
Good Morning !
Jay
@MagdaInBlack:
Good morning.
Pretty sure I would hang onto my beer.
TBone
Those Suffragists’ smiles of delight and pride are a wonderful sight to wake up to today.
MagdaInBlack
@Jay: ..even if it had gotten warm ?
Eta: most folks I know, warm would never happen =-)
Jay
@MagdaInBlack:
Was in Britain for a while,………. so beer is beer. : )
p.a.
@MagdaInBlack: Last time I was in NO, 1995, you’d walk into a Bourbon St club, hand the (always lovely) young lady at the door $1.25 (IIRC) and she’d hand you back 3 12oz Budweisers from the large metal ice & beer filled tub at her feet.
Capitalism & competition; my previous visit, ’91, the clubs had 2for1, then by my next visit it was 3/1😂🙄
Try as
youI might, I couldn’t get them down before at least some was warm, especially given NO’s weather. And this wasn’t a Mardi Gras special; I would never go then. This was BAU.That was a different me, regarding both beer quantity and quality.
MagdaInBlack
“We’re so sick and tired of having to be resilient. How about for once things just work?” Schettler said. “But as long as I have two middle fingers I will always be waving them around defiantly.” …”
So much this.
Jay
@p.a.:
The “King of Beers”, not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budweiser_trademark_dispute
raven
I’m not sure the Mardi Gras Indian Museum is still open but this is from 2019
Also, it is possible to go to the Easy and not drink!
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
People do long for things just to work. New Orleans is such a special place
Jeffg166
Never heard of the Joan of Arc parade. Live and learn.
getsmartin
@raven: It’s still there, but in new digs.
NotMax
Knew a couple, last name Paré, who contemplated naming their first child Iluva. (In the end, they thought better of it.)
ETtheLibrarian
I grew up in New Orleans and looking back over its history it has always been a city living close to tragedy. The watery geography, yellow fever, not well run from the get go, hurricanes, the river (as threat as opposed to economic driver), poverty, debauchery, simmering racial tensions, etc. It was cool, and different, but not easy and often people were a bit fatalistic, weary, and shrugged with the attitude que sera, sera. Isaiah 22:13, always come to mind for me ‘Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die. ‘
Shalimar
@Jeffg166: 17th year for the Krewe de Joan d’Arc. There are a lot of new women’s krewes in New Orleans and Mobile in the last 30 years since I last went to parades. They were almost all men before 1990.
Raven
@getsmartin: Thanks! I think the Petit Jazz Museum closed.
Jeffg166
@Shalimar:
The Mummer’s parade in Philadelphia on New Year’s Day was all male for decades. As younger people lost interest in it they opened it to woman to fill out the ranks.
Baud
@Jeffg166:
Ostracism works. We should consider how we can best use it to fight anti-liberal forces.
raven
@Jeffg166: Do they still do blackface?
Nukular Biskits
Can this be one of the rotating tags?
Baud
@Nukular Biskits:
Good call. Seconded.
Jay
@raven:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummer%27s_Day
getsmartin
@Raven: I did a quick search on that one, and it appears it is still open. You’ve piqued my interest with that reference. I’ll investigate next time I’m over that way. We live about an hour from NOLA and visit often.
Kay
I’m in Columbus at the Ohio Bds of Election annual meeting. Its three days of continuing ed for election professionals plus vendors and our braggy, shouty Secretary of State. I don’t have to work – I’m with my husband who is working. Last night we went to the opening reception. The Democrats were okay – a lot of gallows humor but I feel like they’re back to being sort of the punchy, scrappy political minority I have come to love.
Raven
@getsmartin: I hope the research project is still there.
https://flic.kr/p/2qErkCe
jame
I have come to hate the word resilience. I lost my home too, in the other hurricane that hit Louisiana in 2005. We were sleeping in other people’s houses, observing refugee etiquette, but then I was still hopeful of being able to rebuild. Turns out I didn’t have enough money, and the insurance coverage required of a bank loan doubled the cost of building. So I really can’t go home again. I‘m alive, and relatively happy, but I still mourn for my lost home, and South Louisiana.
Using the term “resilient” to describe some person, animal, or place that’s been hurt or traumatized seems to impart the feeling that oh, they’ll be okay, we don’t need to do much to help them along, they’ll be fine. You know, a little help, or even recognition — and I don’t mean the “Thank you for your service, sir” kind, would be nice sometimes. What would be even better would be a government that works, that takes care of its people.
Please excuse the rant; “resilience” just rubs me raw. I’m glad that the term is getting less respect in print.
CatFacts
@jame: Rita, I’m guessing? I’ve lived in South Louisiana, and Rita was a beast. I am sorry for your lost home. Such a beautiful, unique part of the country and so so vulnerable to climate change and other failed systems.
getsmartin
@Raven: Thanks for that. You’ve got a new follower on flicker!
jame
@CatFacts: Thank you, yes, it was Rita, which was noteworthy nationally because it didn’t hit Houston. She caused plenty of misery nonetheless.