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Date: Thu, 17 Feb 94 19:09:11 -0600 From: elendil@mintir.new-orleans.la.us Subject: Bacchus Parade To: "New Orleans Mailing List" Parade Report -- Bacchus Bacchus is known as the first krewe to really break away from the traditional way Carnival krewes paraded in New Orleans. Formed in 1968 by a group of New Orleans businessmen, Bacchus' king does not come from the krewe membership, but is a celebrity. The krewe doesn't have a court. There is no ball, but rather a supper dance after the parade, where they actually bring the floats into the dance. The floats are huge, because the krewe is huge (900 members). The restrictive membership policies used by the "old-line" krewes are not used by Bacchus. You don't have to trace your lineage back hundreds of years to join Bacchus. It's not cheap to be in the krewe, but that's because they put on a quality show. Since Bacchus is non-traditional, I like doing non-traditional things in terms of seeing it. We've seen Bacchus uptown on St. Charles, downtown on Canal, in the reviewing stands across from Gallier Hall, and lots of places in between. This year, we decided to go to the Hotel Inter-Continental to see the parade. The Hotel puts on a big buffet for $40 apiece, and they have reviewing stands out in front on St. Charles. The buffet was enjoyable; I've had better meals, but the dishes were all prepared well. The best part of the dinner was the large amount of boiled seafood and raw oysters, as well as the dessert table. The reviewing stands at the Inter-Continental are extensive. They run from in front of the Pan-American Life Center to the parking lot on the other side of the hotel. We were in the parking lot side, which is set back from the street about 50 feet. This means there was a row of chairs and ladders between us and the street. Being this far back we didn't catch the volume of beads and throws one would expect to catch on the street. This didn't bother us, mainly because we decided to go to the hotel precisely to get away from the crowds this year. Unfortunately, many tourists want their cake and eat it to. When they came out of the hotel fifteen minutes before the parade passed by, all the good spots in the stands were taken, so these folks didn't catch much at all. There's nothing worse than listening to tourists complain because they can't just walk outside and have front-row seats. Bacchus is one of these events that's difficult to describe with mere words. The parade is not as large as Endymion (the membership is smaller by about 300 men), so the floats are smaller. They don't lack for quality, however. The theme this year dealt with roses (floats depicting the Tournament of Roses Parade, "My Wild Irish Rose," etc.) The dominant colors on the floats were, of course, pink and red. In addition to the theme floats, the Bacchus regulars paraded, such as the Bacchu-saurus (a giant dinosaur that looks a lot like a Brontosaurus), the Bachu-gator (a giant alligator), King Kong, Queen Kong and Baby Kong, and this year's new introduction, the Bacchu-whoppa (a giant whale). As mentioned in previous messages, the king this year was Jean-Claude van Damme. He looked pretty good by the time he got to us. He obviously was into the whole idea of being king, doing karate kicks and throwing doubloons. The Bacchus riding lieutenants were there as well. Bands and marching groups are always first-class in Bacchus. Only the best groups (with the exception of one or two token public school bands) march here. Southern's band was missing this year; I don't know why they chose not to march. All of the other class acts (the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, St. Augustine, etc.) all marched. Bacchus is unfortunately a victim of its own success, however. There was a shooting incident near St. Charles and Constantinople, early on in the route. These sorts of incidents are normally neighborhood disagreements that spill onto the parade route because that's where everyone is gathered. I don't let those things bother me, even when we go Uptown for the parade. Overall, I'm giving Bacchus a 9. The Bacchu-whoppa was great, but the theme was weak, in spite of the well-built floats. Endymion was a better parade this year. -- |
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