Expect ‘anything and everything’ at 2024 Mardi Gras in St. Louis (2024)

At the 45th annual Mardi Gras celebration in Soulard on Feb. 10, you might run into an Elvis impersonator or two. Or E.T. perched in the basket of a bicycle. And definitely some campy, kitschy drag performers.

“Expect anything and everything. Our krewes get really creative,” says Bess McCoy, a member of the Mardi Gras Foundation Board.

Saturday’s events mark the culmination of the five-week or so season of Carnival, a period of joy and bacchanalia that immediately precedes Ash Wednesday and the solemn period of Lent.

The fun and games all come to a head on Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday, though the local celebration reaches its climactic end on Saturday.

So far, there has been a Cajun kick-off and a scavenger hunt, a pet parade and a wiener dog derby. Friday night is the annual Mayor’s Mardi Gras Ball, a fundraiser with proceeds going to the downtown and Soulard areas.

“Soulard hosts the event every year. The community grants are just one way to give back to that neighborhood,” McCoy says.

This year’s parade theme is By the Numbers. So let’s take a look at some of the numbers involved in this year’s blow-out:

17 million

In this country, Mardi Gras has long been associated with brightly colored bead necklaces. Usually they are in the traditional colors of purple, for justice; green, for faith; and gold, for power.

Participants in Mardi Gras parades toss these necklaces to eager recipients, and the number of beads can be staggering.

At Saturday’s Soulard celebration, a total of 17 million beads will be in play.

“Expect to see beads raining from the sky,” McCoy says.

???

The Soulard Mardi Gras is often called the second-largest Mardi Gras in the United States, after New Orleans. But is it? The truth it, nobody knows how many people attend. “It’s not a ticketed event. There is no way of knowing. But it’s certainly one of the biggest,” McCoy says. “It’s hard to believe it started as a house party with five people. Now it has blown into one of the biggest and best celebrations in the country, and certainly one of the biggest and best parties here in St. Louis.”

70-plus

More than 70 floats will participate in the Grand Parade, which starts at Busch Stadium at 11 a.m. and sashays down Broadway to the Anheuser-Busch brewery (the parade is sponsored by Bud Light).

“Folks are getting very creative with the theme” of By the Numbers, McCoy says.

One float will feature “pi”rates — “pi,” as in 3.14, a double pun on the St. Louis area code. A space-themed float is called 3-2-1 Blastoff. One group will do an homage to the late Jimmy Buffett inspired by his duet with Alan Jackson on Jackson’s hit song “It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere.”

The parade’s definition of floats is expansive. Some are the traditional 30-foot rolling floats pulled by a truck, but the Banana Bike Brigade consists of people riding decorated bikes. Some floats are just people walking in costumes that are somehow related to the parade’s theme.

420

One big part of the celebration is new this year: Carni Gras.

Held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the intersection of 12th Street and Allen Avenue, Carni Gras will combine carnival games and a carnival atmosphere with marijuana-themed offerings.

The carnival games, which are open to everyone, include Plinko (a “Price is Right” variation on the Japanese ball-bearing game pachinko), Pitch ‘Til You Win (a ring-toss game), Big Mouth (throw a ball into a canvas clown’s mouth), Down a Clown (throw balls at clown targets) and Shuffle Alley (shuffleboard bowling).

The Carni Grass, so to speak, part of Carni Gras will feature a consumption tent, where people 21 and older can enjoy cannabis. In addition, there will be three hourlong sessions of cannabis-themed music trivia beginning at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m.

At 3 p.m. Carni Gras will see the return of the High Heel Drag Race, which has not been held in recent years.

“We’re glad it’s back, because that is definitely a back-by-popular-demand kind of event,” said Mack Bradley, president of the Mardi Gras Foundation.

7, 11:30

Mardi Gras is all about the food and drink, but mainly the drink.

The restaurants and bars of Soulard — there are about three dozen of them — get into the spirit of the day, both on the street and inside the establishments.

Many make up a special Mardi Gras menu, serving up plates of jambalaya and bowls of gumbo. And you won’t have to walk far to hear live music at one bar or another.

Outside sales will end at 7 p.m. McCoy suggests that people who wish to avoid some of the crowds and craziness should come then, when the fun all moves indoors. By the same token, people who want the crowds and the craziness — which is sort of the point of Mardi Gras — should certainly come in time for the 11 a.m. parade.

The bars and restaurants will close at 11:30 p.m., earlier than usual on a Saturday, so the clean-up crew can get to work. They will work through the night.

“The neighborhood appreciates that we start cleaning up right at 11:30, so that in the morning you can hardly tell there was the biggest and best celebration of the year,” McCoy says.

2

Most of the events at the Soulard Mardi Gras are free, though of course you have to pay for your food and drinks. But there will also be two party tents for what McCoy calls “VIP-style experiences.”

The Bud Light Party Tent promises “nine hours of beer, beats and booze,” from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in a heated tent. Singer, songwriter and country music star Chris Lane (“Big, Big Plans,” “I Don’t Know About You,” “Fix”) will perform inside.

Tickets to the Bud Light tent are $150 through stlouismardigras.org and, along with the music, will get you an open bar, a Cajun lunch buffet, unlimited re-entry, free beads and — and this is not to be overlooked — private restrooms.

The Sunset Hills Subaru Blues Alumni Experience is much the same deal: a heated tent with an open bar and a lunch buffet, unlimited re-entry, beads and those private restrooms, for $150, through stlouismardigras.org.

But instead of country music, there will be former players of the St. Louis Blues on hand to talk about their memories and the good and bad times, and to share stories that they might not talk about to crowds that don’t have an open bar.

1,500

Throughout Soulard will be 1,500 portable restrooms. That’s fifteen hundred. Use them. Do not use alleys or neighborhood yards. We’re not going to tell you again.

“If you’re not using a portable restroom, it’s because you choose not to,” McCoy says.

“Just remember, Soulard is a neighborhood. We’re very grateful that they host this party every year, but just be respectful,” she says.

Incidentally, for the first year of the Soulard Mardi Gras, they only needed eight portable restrooms.

This is important. There will be zero parking available in Soulard. None. For that matter, the streets will be closed to traffic.

“Take a ride share or a taxi. The MetroLink at Busch Stadium isn’t a far walk. A lot of nearby restaurants will have shuttles. Or have someone take you.

“If you do drive, expect to park a long way away and have to walk a long distance,” McCoy says.

Along similar lines, she says, “Dress for the weather, especially your shoes. You’ll be doing a lot of walking, a lot of standing.

20 million

The Soulard Mardi Gras has an economic impact of $20 million to the area, which McCoy calls the equivalent of a World Series.

“Twenty million dollars. That’s even more bucks than beads,” Bradley says.

25%

Roughly one person in four at the Mardi Gras will come here from out of town.

300

It takes an army of more than 300 volunteers to put on the Soulard Mardi Gras. If you see them, thank them.