Smaller krewes have big impact on Mardi Gras

NEW ORLEANS — A new generation of parades is hitting the streets of New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and they're throwing away old traditions of big, glitzy floats and celebrity kings and queens for smaller, greener and sometimes naughtier floats with a hipster sensibility.

These smaller krewes, as the parades or marching groups are called, draw on the talents of local artists and satirize everything from politics to local customs.

One float, labeled "Benz Over," spoofed the recent sale of naming rights for the Superdome to Mercedes-Benz. The float carried a small replica of the Dome with large buttocks for a roof. Another krewe's floats are set atop people-powered adult tricycles fashioned from material salvaged after Hurricane Katrina.

A group called Krewe du Vieux chose "Crimes Against Nature" as its theme, and when it hit the streets recently as carnival season got under way, there was no doubt this was not the usual Mardi Gras parade. One of its floats made fun of surgical procedures used to "improve" on nature with a giant pair of inflatable breasts rising and falling throughout the parade. And instead of handing out traditional beads, some of the scantily clad krewe members handed out condoms.

But even though they're infusing the carnival parades with new ideas, in some ways the alternative krewes are drawing on very old Mardi Gras traditions that predate the era of automobiles and motorized floats. Krewe du Vieux uses mules, or sometimes bicycles, to draw its 17 small floats, which are built on boat trailers no more than 8 feet long and 12 feet high. Krewe members also march with their floats rather than riding on them, and each float is accompanied by a New Orleans brass band.

Compare that to some of New Orleans' biggest and best-known mainstream parades, where the floats might be 50 feet long and 18 feet high, carrying dozens of riders. Some massive floats — like the raucous Bacchus parade's Baccagator float, a giant alligator, 110 feet long — can hold more than 100 riders.

The alternative krewes see Mardi Gras as a chance for individuals to exercise their creativity and engage in satire. "The coolest thing is that people do it just to do it," said Jim Gelarden, a member of Krewe du Vieux. "It's just for fun. There is no social status at stake."

Smaller groups get regular parade permits, rather than Mardi Gras permits, said officer Ross Bourgeois of the New Orleans Police Department. This allows them more leeway in what they can do and where they can go. The regular Mardi Gras parades are so big they're no longer allowed to roll through the narrow streets of the French Quarter, but smaller groups can still navigate the city's oldest and most famous neighborhood.