In New Orleans, Early Mardi Gras Parades Are Family Fare | NYTimes.com

Pableaux Johnson

Members of the Krewe of Thoth shower Mardi Gras
crowds in New Orleans with beads and toys.

Like most of the season’s signature processions, the early parades follow oak-shaded St. Charles Avenue through the Uptown, Garden District and Lower Garden District neighborhoods, before proceeding through the Central Business District and disbanding at the border of the French Quarter. During the early parades, observers also have more space to set up picnic spreads along the route. The grassy median (“neutral ground,” in local parlance) is transformed from streetcar track to informal picnic ground as families take in the afternoon parades, during that first weekend, of the Krewe of Pontchartrain and the Krewes of Carrollton and King Arthur...

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