Only in New Orleans: The sights, sounds, 
and merriment of March

With all of the amazing March events that are occurring in New Orleans, people are descending from all over the world to kick off the month with Mardi Gras celebrations around town. The parades go on day and night until Fat Tuesday. The huge Super Krewe parades during the four-day Carnival weekend, such as Endymion, Bacchus, and Orpheus, and the festivities surrounding them become increasingly elaborate, until at last, Mardi Gras arrives on March 8.

It begins at the crack of dawn with droves of Mardi Gras Indians appearing in their exquisite costumes in uptown neighborhoods. Next, at 8 am, comes the fanfare of Zulu; Louis Armstrong reigned as Zulu’s most memorable and celebrated king in 1949. With their big plastic cigars, major wigs, grass skirts, and prized golden coconuts, it is really something to see. This is a crowd that really knows how to party.

Rex, the King of Carnival, follows Zulu at 10 am. After regal Rex and his royal court and gorgeous parade comes hundreds of homespun truck floats and a variety of after-parade, bodacious celebrations in the French Quarter that are far too racy to describe. Virtually everything happens here, including the St. Anne Walking Parade with some of the most bizarre costumes of the day, and the Bourbon Street Awards, an over-the-top, flamboyant, gay costume 

competition featuring some of New Orleans’ finest drag divas.

If you want to have a family-style celebration with children, stay out of the Quarter and head to St. Charles Avenue early in the morning to stake out your spot on the parade route.

New Orleans is always ready for a parade, and on the heels of Carnival is the St. Patrick’s Day Irish Channel parade on March 12 at 1 pm. It is a huge block party around Parasol’s, with more than 7,000 people drinking green beer, wearing green costumes, and trying not to get pinched. For the parade, men and women from various clubs dress up in costumes, dance down the street, and give out paper flowers, beads, and kisses to lucky parade-goers along the route. Floats and music add to the festivities with bands playing live on flatbed trailers. The most famous throws are cabbages and moon pies (watch your head, this can get rather dangerous). A second St. Patrick’s Day parade rolls in Metairie on March 13 at 12 noon.

Just a few days later, on March 19, is the St. Joseph’s Day parade in the French Quarter. The Italian-American Marching Club that sponsors the event is one of the largest ethnic organizations in the southeastern United States. Membership has climbed to more than 1,500 in recent years. Thousands of locals and tourists line the streets to take part in the fun. The Louisiana Irish-Italian Parade is held March 20 at noon in Metairie, in a glorious display of costumes, floats, and merriment.

Beyond these festivities, there are enough reasons to stay in New Orleans the entire month of March.

Foburg is a three-day alternative music festival, held March 11-13 on Frenchman Street, where all the hot clubs are located (including the hip new Three Muses serving gourmet small plates; Snug Harbor, where famous jazz musicians appear; Blue Nile; d.b.a.; and a dozen others). Last year, crowds approached 10,000 with 100 bands featured at 10 venues. This year, the festival is twice as big with 20 venues and 200 bands.


For those who like a little glamour, Fashion Week New Orleans, held March 15-18 at the Sugar Mill, spotlights the talents and collections of local and national designers, boutiques, and retailers through a series of runway shows, fashion events, and chic parties.

The 56th annual New Orleans Home and Garden Show, held March 17-20, is relocating to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center this year. Presented by the Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans, it is the largest consumer home show in the southeastern United States. An unparalleled variety of home-related services and products are located under one gigantic roof, with everything needed for home remodeling, green building, decorating, and landscaping. Tens of thousands of visitors are expected during the four-day show, which offers innovative, region-specific ideas and solutions for getting the most out of your home.

An amazing weekend that is filled with several popular festivals is March 25-27. On this particular weekend, you see some of the most beautiful sights of the year in the French Quarter, from women in antebellum dresses participating in various events, to dozens of weddings held in the Quarter. While strolling through Jackson Square or on Royal Street, you may encounter brides in long white dresses dancing in a second line with their entire wedding parties. The weather is usually gorgeous, and so many colorful people are out and about.

The NOLA Pyrate Week is also going on (March 25-April 3). On any given street, you will turn the corner and see someone dressed as a pirate—and frequently their dogs are dressed as pirates, too.

The New Orleans Roadfood Festival is a wonderful experience, also held March 25-27. You get to sample food from the 20 top restaurants as five blocks of Royal Street are roped off for the occasion and vendors set up in the street (Antoine’s was represented there last year, among many other great restaurants and chefs). The Louisiana Oyster Jubilee is held nearby on the 300 block of Bourbon Street March 26, as chefs and restaurateurs serve up their very best oyster creations.

What makes all this so much fun are the many exciting activities that are concurrently going on surrounding the 25th annual Tennessee Williams Festival, which is also in the French Quarter, March 23-27. A favorite event is the “Stanley and Stella” shouting contest based on Williams’ masterpiece, A Streetcar Named Desire. The public is invited to participate. The event takes place on a balcony overlooking Jackson Square, where hundreds gather to see the contestants playing Stanley give their best, blood-curdling “Stella!” scream.

The Tennessee Williams 25th anniversary also overlaps with the playwright’s 100th anniversary birthday on March 26. Celebrity interviews; theater, food, and music events; a scholars’ conference; comedy improv and a poetry slam; an erotica reading; one-act play competitions; French Quarter literary walking tours; a book fair; special evening events, and elaborate parties with celebrities are part of the five-day celebration.

The lofty list of participants includes Carroll Baker, Academy Award nominee for her provocative performance in Williams’ controversial 1956 black comedy Baby Doll; Shirley Knight, Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress in Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth and star of his one-act play A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur at the Hudson Guild Theatre in 1979; and Zoe Caldwell, who won one of her four Tony Awards for her role in Williams’ Slapstick Tragedy in 1966. Harriet Harris, popular stage and screen star (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Frasier), who played Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie at the Guthrie Theater; and New Orleans native Grace Zabriskie, who just released her first collection of poetry, yet is best known for her roles in many popular films and television series (Twin Peaks; HBO’s Big Love), round out the grand group of leading ladies.

Literary luminaries include Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler (A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain), who judged the festival’s 2011 short fiction contest; critically acclaimed author Winston Groom (Forrest Gump; Vicksburg, 1963); Jason Berry, author, reporter and film director (Vows of Silence); Louisiana Poet Laureate Darrell Bourque; film critic and raconteur Rex Reed; syndicated advice columnist and author Amy Dickinson; best-selling mystery writers John Connolly, Laura Lippman, and Nevada Barr; National Book Award finalists Dorothy Allison and Susan Straight; Bryan Batt, widely known as Salvatore Romano in AMC’s Mad Men, whose memoir, She Ain’t Heavy, She’s My Mother, details his childhood growing up in New Orleans; and filmmaker, writer, and artist John Waters, who delighted audiences at the 2007 Festival.

In celebration of Williams’ birthday, “Happy Birthday, Mr. Williams: Tennessee’s New Orleans Homecoming” features a star-studded roster of participants including poets Darrell Bourque and Mona Lisa Saloy; authors Dorothy Allison and Armistead Maupin; filmmaker John Waters; actors Bryan Batt, Harriet Harris, and Grace Zabriskie, among others. A special champagne toast and birthday cake cap off the evening.

Literary programs featured include eight master classes for writers conducted by leading authors, agents, and editors. Literary buffs and food lovers get to double dip at a special event held at The Bistro at the Maison de Ville with the authors and contributors of Dinner with Tennessee Williams, the newly-published memoir/cookbook by Troy Gilbert, Chef Greg Picolo, Dr. Kenneth Holditch, and Poppy Tooker. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served at food writer John Mariani’s session on the latest national restaurant trends. He will also discuss his new book, How Italian Food Conquered the World, which debuts at the festival. “Quintessential Brunch” is the title of acclaimed chef John Besh’s cooking demonstration and discussion the following day.

On another note, the festival’s Sunday “Drummer and Smoke” music program at the Palm Court Jazz Café presents consummate jazz singer Banu Gibson’s fresh renditions of George Gershwin’s timeless classics. In addition, celebrated jazz trumpeter and bandleader Irvin Mayfield will read from and discuss his new book and CD titled A Love Letter to New Orleans, followed by a performance.

And finally, not to be missed is the 75th annual Spring Fiesta and Historic Home Tours (March 25-April 3), featuring 20 Garden District and French Quarter homes that are not usually open to the public as part of this year’s tour. The highlight of the fiesta is a parade of horse-drawn carriages through the French Quarter and the presentation of the Spring Fiesta Queen and her court at Jackson Square. For further information on all the many fun March events, visit neworleanscvb.com. ✦