A FREE guide on how to survive Mardi Gras along with tips and tricks for making your trip to New Orleans the most memorable.

Ultimate Guide to Mardi Gras in New Orleans

It’s Mardi Gras time in the Big Easy! Mardi Gras in one of the best FREE celebrations in New Orleans. It’s one of those times where we let the good times roll… literally. Mardi Gras can be overwhelming if you’ve never been which is why I created this guide for making your trip to New Orleans this carnival season the best time ever. In here you’ll find recommendations on food, places to stay, where to catch the parade and tips for keeping you safe.

This Mardi Guide is perfect for:

• First time visitors to New Orleans
• First time experiencing Mardi Gras
• Families with little kids
• Couples

Table of Contents:

• What is Mardi Gras?
• Few Facts about Mardi Gras
• Mardi Gras Parade Schedule
• Mardi Gras Day (Next 5 Years)
• What Mardi Gras Parade Entails
• Best Parades To Go To
• Best Places to Eat on the Parade Route
• New Orleans Must Do’s
• Best Places to Park
• What to Expect Beyond Bourbon Street
• List of Essentials: What to Bring
• Doing Mardi Gras with Kids
• What to Bring for Kids
• Where to Stay
• Want to Ride in a Mardi Gras Parade?
• Mardi Is NOT For You If…

WHAT IS MARDI GRAS?

Mardi Gras is traditionally known as the day before Ash Wednesday, where people will celebrate  with carnival events and be merry before the fasting season of Lent. Mardi Gras means ‘Fat Tuesday’ in French. Not even kidding, it’s that simple.

FEW FACTS ABOUT MARDI GRAS:

• The start of carnival season is January 6th known as “Twelfth Night” or “King’s Day.”

• The end of carnival season is Fat Tuesday aka “Mardi Gras Day.” This is always the day before Ash Wednesday.

• Mardi Gras Day (Fat Tuesday) can fall anywhere between February 3rd and March 9th.

•  New Orleans has been celebrating Fat Tuesday with parades since 1837.  The first actual Mardi Gras parade was held in New Orleans on Feb. 24, 1857 by the Krewe of Comus. They began the tradition of a parade with floats and having a carnival ball for the krewe and their guests afterwards.

Courtesy of Wanderlustinthecity.com

• Krewes are organizations that put on a parade and/or a ball for Mardi Gras/Carnvial. They are clubs of a sort, with dues ranging from $20 to thousands of dollars annually. Krewes are also responsible for selecting carnival royalty in New Orleans, such as ‘Rex’, the king of Mardi Gras. (Check out Ashley from Wanderlust in the City and her experience at the Endymion Extravaganza!)

Photo by Kathleen Parker

• The method of selecting a king varies from krewe to krewe. Some Mardi Gras krewes hold random drawings, while others invite a celebrity guest to be their king. Rex, the King of Carnival, is chosen by the School of Design, who sponsors the Rex parade. His identity is revealed the day before the parade.

Photo by Uptown Messenger

• Along with Mardi Gras costumes, masks are also worn and are required by law to be worn on a float. Yep, it’s illegal to ride on a float without a mask! The original purpose of the mask was to get rid of social constraints for the day, allowing people to mingle with whomever they chose.

• The official colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold. Purple stands for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.

• New Orleans is not the only city that celebrates Mardi Gras. People in Texas, as well as Alabama even countries across the world celebrate Mardi Gras.

• Mardi Gras is FREE. You do not need tickets to see the parades. Only if you would like to go to the balls or have a seat in the stands would you need to pay.

• Even though every parade is unique, there are a few that stand out beyond the rest. They are called super krewes. Orpheus, Bacchus, and Endymion are considered superkrewes and are known for having the most intricate, massive, and extravagant floats. They are also known for having celebrities on board their floats as well. People like Harry Connick Jr., Kevin Costner, Luke Bryant, Maroon 5, Anderson Cooper, Whoopi Goldberg, Sandra Bullock, etc have all enjoyed riding in a New Orleans parade.

• On any given day in New Orleans, you can find mardi gras beads still hanging from trees or power lines.

Photo courtesy of Joel Carillet

Pro Tip: In New Orleans, it is legal to walk down the street with an alcoholic beverage in hand. This is for any day of the year, not just Mardi Gras. If you are not done with your drink at a restaurant, ask your waiter for a “to go” cup. They’ll know exactly what you mean.

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PARADE SCHEDULE:

Parade schedule changes slightly every year in regards to dates. It all depends on Easter. Easter is always 46 days after Ash Wednesday and Fat Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras day is always the day before Ash Wednesday. Fat Tuesday can be as early as Feb 3rd to as late as March 9th. This year Mardi Gras is right in the middle, making its debut on February 17th, 2026. Although Mardi Gras day is late February, parades start as early as the first week of January to kick off the carnival season.

Mardi Gras Parade Schedule 2026:

**Parade schedule is subject to change, please visit : Mardi Gras New Orleans for most up to date schedule. **

More Parades in Surrounding areas!

PRO TIP: Get the parade tracker app! Be able to track in real time, where the parade is and the route it will take!  Plus a list of all the other parades. I personally use it during Mardi Gras season to see how long before the parade will get to me.

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Mardi Gras Day (Next 5 years):

February 9, 2027

February 29, 2028

February 13, 2029

March 5, 2030

February 25, 2031

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WHAT A  MARDI GRAS PARADE ENTAILS:

Most of parades consist of floats, bands, and dance teams.

You’ll find others have a more sophisticated method like a king or queen, maids, officers of the krewe, celebrities, flambeauxs as well. Each parade is fun and unique in its own way.

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BEST MARDI GRAS PARADES TO GO TO:

Superkrewes are always a favorite and some of the best to attend.

My favorites: Krewe de Vieux, Orpheus, Endymion, Tucks, Zulu, Muses, and Chewbaccus.

**Krewe de Vieux is mainly for adults only for their humor and vulgarity are not suitable for children. **

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BEST SPOTS TO EAT ON THE PARADE ROUTE:

**The City of New Orleans is in the works of revamping the parade routes to where all parades go the same route. This will affect some of these restaurants being on the parade route. Will update when I know more. **

St. Stephen’s Catholic Church 1025 Napoleon Ave.

Fat Harry’s 4330 St. Charles Ave.

Superior Seafood 4338 St. Charles Ave.

Superior Grill 3636 St. Charles Ave.

Gracious Bakery 2854 St. Charles Ave.

Avenue Pub 1732 St. Charles Ave.

Blind Pelican 1628 St. Charles Ave.

Mother’s 401 Poydras Ave.

Lucy’s 701 Tchoupitoulas St.

A little off the parade route, you can find many awesome restaurants willing to accomodate you.

Midway Pizza 4725 Freret St.

Company Burger 4600 Freret St.

Dat Dog 5030 Freret St.

Dat Dog 3336 Magazine St

Rum House 3128 Magazine St.  ( This is one of my FAVORITES!)

District Donuts 5637 Magazine St.

Juan’s Flying Burrito 5528 Magazine St.

Pro Tip: In New Orleans, we also have drive thru daiquiri shops. This means you can order a frozen alcoholic beverage like you would order a taco from Taco Bell. Drive up to the window, order your drink.  After, they will hand you a styrofoam cup with a lid, and your straw separately. Here in New Orleans, that cup is considered a closed container, meaning: as long as you don’t put your straw into that lid, you are good to go! So no drinking and driving!

Photo from Bevvy.co

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MUST DO’s :

EAT KINGCAKE

It’s in a abundance at this time of year and it’s delicious. A brioche-based dough laced with cinnamon and usually formed into a ring shape. Its covered usually with purple, green, and gold sugar and/or icing with a plastic baby hidden inside. Some places did not put the baby inside but on the side.  People will claim they make the best ones outside of New Orleans but there is no comparison. Here a few of the best and each is made slightly different than the other.

TOP PLACES TO GET KING CAKE:

Randazzo’s

Dong Phuong’s

McKenzie’s at Tastee’s Donuts

Haydel’s Cajun Kringle

or try making your own Mardi Gras themed desserts like:

• King Cake Bites
• King Cake Cookies
• King Cake Bars
• Mardi Gras Macarons
• King Cake Donuts

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EAT SEAFOOD

Courtesy of Superior Seafood

Our food is delicious! It is one of the things we are known for. Although most places along the parade route will be more get food and go, you should definitely stop by some restaurants that offer their full menu. Grab beignets or a king cake before heading to the parade. Stop at Superior Seafood and Grill on St. Charles before the parade and then party hardy! After grab some late night grub at Camelia Grill.

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**Or bring your own food, try making some of these Mardi Gras themed drinks and desserts! **

WHERE TO PARK:

Parking will be a pain in the butt no matter what. The best to do is to arrive early for the days there are parades all weekend and stake out a spot for the fun.

If you are within walking distance to the streetcar, I suggest you do that instead. Although at the end of the parade you maybe waiting for the street a little while and they may be packed with people, it’s a tiny bit better than being stuck in traffic for a while.  Unless you’re claustrophobic, then walk or take your car.

Things to consider:

• Be careful not to park to close to a fire hydrant, or the end of a block.
• Park your vehicle going in the right direction.
• Don’t block a driveway
• Pay attention to signs as some change especially during Mardi Gras

For example, in my parent’s neighborhood, you cannot park down one side of the street. This is only during Mardi Gras season. This is to ensure that firetrucks can make it safely down the street. So please be mindful. If no one is parked near you, look around to see why.

If you come late in the day after parades have already started or are about to start, be prepared to walk. (heck, be prepared to walk. period- comfortable shoes are where it’s at!)

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WHAT TO BRING WITH YOU:

LIST:

• folding chair
• poncho
• ziplock bags
• sunscreen
• bag to put beads in ( you may catch one off a float, but just in case you don’t, double bagged grocery bags work great or reusable totes)
• jacket
• bag to hold your stuff
• food/snacks
• drinks (you don’t have to buy drinks, you can bring your own but avoid bringing anything in glass or drinking from glass. Plastic throw-away cups are your best friend!)
• comfortable shoes – love these!
• trash bag– If you’re anything like us, we love to find a spot and camp for the day. This can add up to a lot trash strewn around us. So we like to help out by bringing a bag to contain some of the litter. If you are planning to just walk around mostly and catch the parade at multiple spots, then there’s no real need for this.

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WHAT TO EXPECT OUTSIDE OF BOURBON STREET:

• People aren’t going to be flashing for beads. It’s not the norm anywhere except Bourbon St. where tourists are pretending to be what the media portrays of Mardi Gras.

• Mardi Gras is actually very family friendly! You’ll find tons of people with their kids gathering by the parade route to enjoy the parade.

• You will get tons of beads without doing anything but waving your hand. which brings me to this point:

• If there is a float in front of you, DON’T. LOOK. DOWN! Don’t worry about the ones that hit the ground unless they are REALLLY good. (She’ll learn)  I’ll tell you from first-hand experience of being a rider on a float and a spectator.  (I was so excited to check off “riding in a parade” off my bucket list!)

• As a person on the float, there are so many people looking up at you…. or at least you think they are looking up at you. Truthfully, they’re just looking up and waving their hands frantically for anyone willing to throw them a bead. Let’s be real, none of us are a Drew Brees on the float, so add in the extra challenge of your float constantly stopping and going, anddddd the fact that you’ve been drinking. At this point,  you really just hope you don’t hit someone in the face. And if you do, you hope they’re drunk enough to not feel a thing. 🙂

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• As a person catching the beads (aka most likely you): You stake out a good spot in the crowd, you wave your hands and scream your little head off for them to hear you. As you are looking up at this double-decker float, you see about 16 people easily fly by you in a matter of 10-15 seconds unless the float stops in front of you. [This is where your tip comes in!]  You should always be scanning the WHOLE float! Look for anything flying in your direction. Trust me, I’ve had my fair share of beads whack me out of nowhere because I was only looking at that one person back at the float and a person in the front of the float threw me something. I was guilty, because I was waving for it.  So always be prepared for the unexpected beads and trinkets.

•  You don’t have to fight over beads or grab all the beads on the ground. Trust me, there’s plenty to go around.

• People don’t dress up fancy for Mardi Gras. The carnival balls are the only places people are looking their best. Everyone else is sporting jeans or shorts, comfy shoes and a purple, green or gold shirt.

HOWEVER: 

•  Some people do dress up for Mardi Gras. This is more like Halloween on steriods kind of dress up. You’ll see some interesting costumes, especially ones in the parades but they are awesome nonetheless. So pretty much anything you wear that day will be acceptable. Just do yourself a favor and make it comfortable.

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DOING MARDI GRAS WITH KIDS:

Like I stated previously, Mardi Gras is a family friendly event. With that said, there are some parades that best to leave the kids behind or not go at all. There are some floats that are controversial. They may have some costumes and floats that poke at politicals and other matters. Not to worry, as most of these will go straight over your kids head. They are only concerned with someone throwing them something good.

There also can be costumes that are risque worn by people in the parade or people just coming to the parade. If you find this inappropriate, then you may want to skip parades as well. I’m not trying to deter you. In fact, we’d love for you to come!  The best ones for you are during the day, but there are great ones at night as well. (Again, superkrewes are the best, but most crowded.)

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LIST OF EXTRAS TO BRING WITH KIDS:

These are things in conjuction to the list above.

• Mardi Gras Ladder– if you’ve been to Mardi Gras, you’ve surely seen these. This are ladders that have attached seating for young children to sit in while watching the parade. It helps them get a great view of the parade and for them to be seen. Easy to pack up and you just fold the laddy and roll it on the wheels attached to where they sit. **These are not mandatory but is a nice for the kids to enjoy the parade.**
  • RULES:
    • They do have rules about these having to stay on the sidewalk so no moving them up in the street as people move forward.
    • Always remember to have an adult standing on the back to help catch for the young kids.
    • Never get off before you take your children out of the ladder. I’ve seen a few times two kids in the ladder and the adult gets off the ladder to take one kid down and with the weight shift, it topples over. No kid was ever injured that I saw, but it surely scared the heck out of them.

If you didn’t want to bring anything this big, other great options are: step ladders,  or let me them stand on ice chests or putting them on your shoulders.

• Wagon– this is nice for loading up the kids and the ice chest at the beginning of the day and wheel them out the parade. It’s even better to use at the end of the night to carry them and the loot back to the car, as they will be tired and so will you.
• Small Ice chest– This doesn’t have to huge but a small one to fit some juice and a few snacks.  This one is awesome!! It tends to be a bit harder to find drinks for kids and caprisuns and other juice boxes just work great for this! Feel free to add a beer or two for yourself in there.

• Noise Reduction Headphones: For those little bitties, noise canceling headphones will help their little ears and make it less overwhelming for them. It also helps for when they need a nap.

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WHERE TO STAY:

You don’t have to stay in the French Quarter to experience Mardi Gras. There is tons of spots still in New Orleans that are actually close to a local experience of Mardi Gras. And still in walking distance to the parade. Magazine street and others are great places to try as well. (Check out which parades will happen during your stay, look for places in the area along the parade route.)

Hotels:

Hotel rates and basically anywhere you are wanting to rest your head will have an upcharge at this time of year. Their rates are usually 2-3x the normal rate and they fill up quickly. So be prepared. Book early.

Airbnb:

Airbnb will be your best friend! There are some people who rent their houses out at Mardi Gras that are right on the parade. This is perfect for when you have little ones to let them go back for a nap or to potty. We did this one year when we had 3 littles ones in our group. It made it so much easier to go right into the house behind us when they’ve had enough.

(I’ve personally used Airbnb many times, and had great experiences. If you are nervous about using Airbnb, read this to get an idea of how it works, what to expect, and share some helpful tips to make your trip successful. If you already know about Airbnb, but still unsure, READ THIS. I share all my experiences, including things they don’t always tell you.)

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WANT TO RIDE IN A MARDI GRAS PARADE?

Riding in a parade is a crazy, exhilarating experience! People who usually ride once, love it and  ride again every year. Most krewes are non-profit and give their money to charities. The amount you pay to ride in a parade is different for each parade/krewe. Superkrewes are tend to be the most expensive.

It’s crazy for people to hear the amount of money people spend on riding in some of these parades. This was one of my top things on my bucket list and I finally did it back in 2016. I rode in a superkrewe parade and my husband and I spent a few thousand for everything towards this parade. Let me say there are tons of events besides riding in the parade and some of the money was used on these events and activities.

I would love to ride again, but I prefer to save my money for other adventures like traveling. I know for others, traveling is not as high of priority, so they ride every year. It is without a doubt a fantastic and amazing time. So if it is on your bucket list, at least do it once. 🙂

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MARDI GRAS IS NOT FOR YOU IF:

 If you are a germaphobic:

For the sake of your sanity, do NOT come to Mardi Gras. There will be fun and laughter, but there will be tons of trash strewn everywhere. There will be people not washing their hands and wiping them on their shirt, spilling drinks, etc etc. If you are just out on the parade route and don’t have a place to pee, it may be tough to find an actual bathroom that isn’t already wrecked from the countless amounts of people using the facilities. Some charge or have to be a paying customer as well. These are the better bathrooms and will usually be more clean.  If you don’t want to pay everytime you go to the bathroom, porta potty and a brick wall are your only other options.

 If you don’t like crowds.

Most parades there are going to be people close to you on either side. Not all parades are jammed packed but the good ones are. If you are going to meet friends down the street, you might have to squeeze past people on the sidewalk. This may not be comfortable for some of you.

“We don’t hide our crazy! We parade it down the street!”

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 If you aren’t flexible.

Not as in gymnastics flexible but as in taking on Mardi Gras as it comes. It’s a lot to take in for someone who’s never been here, most stare in awe saying, “This is crazy!” but most join in and have the best time!

If you don’t like unpredictable weather.

New Orleans usually has all 3 seasons in one week. One day we are in the 80’s, the next day we dropped to the 40’s. Add in our crazy precipitation and you’re in for a treat. Hence why my packing list included all of them. Shorts, pants, jacket, poncho. We also bring extra layers just in case, You just never know. These 4 pictures are just over the last two years of Mardi Gras, and honestly, I probably wore everything on my list just in ONE Mardi Gras season.

Now come join the fun! Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler! (means “let the good times roll!”)

I can’t wait to see you out there!

Coming to New Orleans? Go here

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