Barefoot Mardi Gras Is On! First Annual Mardi Gras Beach Parade and Party
Parade forms up at 2:30 on Saturday February 13th with Party to follow
Miss Neese and the Earfood Orchastra will play the party and a Gospel Brunch to follow on Sunday the 14th at Scuttlebutt’s
“HEAR YE!! HEAR YE1 HEAR YE! Mardi Gras has migrated to The Island!
Join us for the most Outrageous Parade and Party of the Year! BAREFOOT MARDI GRAS is on for February 13th, 6 p.m. – 10 p.m. at Briscoe King Pavilion with music by Miss Neese and The Earfood Orchestra from San Antonio. Dinner will include Louisiana Style Cajun Cooking and Traditional Mardi Gras Fare with gumbo prepared by the good folks over at Crawdaddy’s Restaurant. Fresh crawfish are being brought in from Louisiana.
Dress in your best Mardi Gras regalia and join in the fun!!
Lots of audience participation and dancing – BYOB (no glass please) Don’t miss the crowning of the 2010 King and Queen of the Barefoot Mardi Gras! $20.00 for tickets sold now and $25.00 at the door – Tickets are limited for the adults only event. For questions or to buy tickets or join the parade call 774-2845 or email barefootmardigras@gmail.com. Tickets can be purchased before the event at the Moon office in the Padre Professional Center #220, Office Lounge, Michelle’s Salon, and the POA office on The Island. Partial proceeds will go to the Big Brother and Big Sister charitable organization.
Miss Neese Is Bringing the Orchestra
Miss Neesi and the Earfood Orchestra are bringing their zydeco sound to The Island for the party. Miss Neesie and the Earfood Orchestra is an eight piece band out of San Antonio that has been together for over 20 years. The band is led by Jim Beal, Jr., veteran music columnist for the San Antonio Express-News. Earfood is a band that is not for the timid. They pretty much demand that you get into the act and the term “slow song” is not in their vocabulary. They have been playing at Tortuga Flats and the Back Porch in Port Aransas since the 1980’s. If these guys don’t get you up and dancing you better check your pulse because you might be dead.
“The Ear Food Orchestra loves coming to the Coast to make our music because the people down there, locals, tourists and Winter Texans, know how to have fun, know how to let the good times roll. We’ve played weekends, New Year’s Eves, dachshund races and regatta parties down there, but we’ve yet to play a Mardi Gras party so there should be some extra good times rolling.
“And we know that, with great fun comes great responsibility, so we’ve actually been rehearsing. I hope that doesn’t mess us up, but we’ll be coming with zydeco, Cajun, brass band songs, New Orleans classics and some San Antonio spice for good measure. But we’ll probably wear shoes.”
First Annual Barefoot Mardi Gras Parade!
The parade will get under way at 3 p.m. on Saturday and proceed down the beach from Park Road 4. (See the map on this page). So far about a dozen floats have signed up but you don’t need a “float” to join in. Golf carts, bicycles, horses, pickup trucks, flivers, and little red wagons are also welcome.
The parade route has been moved several times due to dredging in the Packery with the sand being pumped onto the beach at and around the seawall. Next year’s parade will be in front of the seawall, but this year it will start on Park Road 4, the first beach access road south of Whitecap. It will go down the beach to Bob Hall Pier so to view the parade spectators should gather on the beach between Bob Hall Pier and the access road. Traffic control will be on hand to show you where to park.
Gospel Brunch on Sunday, February 14 at Scuttlebutt’s
And then the next day, Sunday, February 14, the Earfood Orchestra will play a gospel brunch at Scuttlebutt’s Restaurant – formerly Tsunami . The band plays for free and passes the collection plate for Big Brothers Music for the gospel show will start at 1 p.m. and the term “Gospel” is used loosly here. The music will be acoustic for this kid friendly event.
Mardi Gras has arrived on The Island barefoot style. Les le Bon ton roulette, yall! We’ll see you there.