It's Mardi Gras Day in New Orleans. Parades were rolling, costumes are on display in the French Quarter and drinks are flowing for the Carnival season's finale.
From the early morning emergence of the Skull and Bones Gang to the ceremonial closing of Bourbon Street at midnight, relive it all here.
Our photographers and reporters are roaming the city looking for creative costumes and epic Mardi Gras moments.
We were up early in the Treme (photos) and now are parading with Zulu, Rex and St. Anne. Watch the Parade Cam livestream.
We hit up the Bourbon Street Awards at noon and are spending the day admiring the costumes in the French Quarter, Bywater and Marigny before heading to the Rex and Comus balls in the evening. It's going to be a blast.
Live coverage
See our coverage below of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Can't see the module? Click here.
Mardi Gras Indians
Mardi Gras Indians will emerge early in the morning to display their feathered and beaded costumes.
All on a Mardi Gras day! Golden Comanches Mardi Gras Indians getting ready to walk out of Tipitina’s pic.twitter.com/udNqAnztRC
— Chris Granger (@chris_granger) March 1, 2022
It’s difficult to predict exactly where the wandering Mardi Gras Indians, also called Black Masking Indians, will appear, though North Claiborne Avenue near St. Bernard Avenue is a good bet.
Zulu and Rex parades
Zulu and Rex will roll at 8 a.m. to wrap up this year's parades. The parades will be broadcast live on the NOLA.com Mardi Gras Parade Cam when they get close to the viewing stand, which is usually about an hour after the krewe starts rolling.
Zulu will roll along a trimmed route like other 2022 parades starting at 8 a.m.
Rex will also roll on a shorter route this year, starting at Napoleon Avenue at Carondelet Street, then following the standard 2022 St. Charles Avenue route.
Rex rolls after Zulu, starting at 10:30 a.m.
The Elks-Orleans and Crescent City truck parades will follow Rex along the 2022 St. Charles Avenue route, from Napoleon Avenue to Canal Street.
Rex king and queen
James Reiss III and his wife, Erica, at home in New Orleans. James Reiss will serve as Rex 2022.
Rex, king of Carnival, is James J. Reiss III, a banking executive who previously was a Marine Corps helicopter pilot.
Rex queen Elinor Pitot White, seated, at home with her mother, Virginia White.
His queen is Elinor Pitot White, a graduate of Metairie Park Country Day School and a senior year at the University of Texas in Austin.
Zulu king and queen
Crystal Monique Guillemet and Randolph "Rudy" Davis, Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club's king and queen, on Monday, February 7, 2022. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
Randolph “Rudy” Davis and his fiancée, Crystal Guillemet, are the monarchs this year for the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club.
Read more about them and their deep roots in the Lower 9th Ward.
The Societe de Sainte Anne
DIY costumers will wander the streets from the Bywater to the French Quarter on Fat Tuesday morning and afternoon.
The most spectacular of the many marching clubs is the Societe de Sainte Anne. The half-century-old costuming club was named for a mysterious 19th-century tomb that members discovered in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and is meant to be a throwback to the informal, 19th-century foot processions that preceded organized float parades.
To behold the spectacle, stake out a place on Royal Street at Franklin Avenue or Kerlerec Street and follow the crowd into the Vieux Carre. To distinguish St. Anne from other marching groups, look for glinting standards made from hula hoops strung with fluttering ribbons.
Additional reporting from Doug MacCash.
