Watch as King of Carnival leads traditional Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans
Watch as the King of Carnival leads Rex parade during Mardi Gras in New Orleans on Tuesday 13 February.
Carnival season 2024 entered its final days last week and Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, marks the party’s climax.
The celebration will be citywide, with costumed revellers jamming the Quarter and parades proceeding from Uptown to downtown with other events in the suburbs.
Communities in other parts of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast also celebrate. Mobile, Alabama, lays claim to America’s oldest Mardi Gras observances.
The final weekend of carnival season brings the biggest parades, produced by organisations that borrow traditions from European royalty — anointing kings and queens to rule over the proceedings.
The Rex Organization, founded in the 19th century, rolls every Fat Tuesday, with the role of Rex, King of Carnival, filled each year by a different local dignitary.
The Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, founded by Black labourers in the early 1900s, also rolls on Tuesday.
