New Orleans Mardi Gras - documentary (1998)

[Music] in new orleans perhaps more than anywhere the mature adults have held on to their youth by day they are lawyers teachers and local merchants by night they form secret organizations to plan lavish balls and exotic parades so they can dress in colorful costumes and throw trinkets to millions of strangers [Applause] about 128 000 people participated in the parades 981 floats 586 bands [Music] but mardi gras is not just a spontaneous party it is dictated by a series of unwritten rules that have been passed down through generations [Music] rule number one don't take yourself too seriously rule number two dress accordingly rule number three pace yourself rule number four no violence or you will be immediately arrested rule number five if you have beads you can trade them for a look at these rule number six everything ends at midnight on fat tuesday but oddly enough the world's greatest party is based in religion it always starts on january 6 which is the feast of the epiphany that's when the carnival season begins and carnival is from the latin carnivale are they in order i'm called the captain of orpheus the captain is responsible for the uh the theme of the parade uh from executing making sure all the floats are in line with that theme the ball that takes place afterwards the celebrities you name it whatever takes place with the parade or the ball the captain is ultimately responsible for it's now the final two days of the carnival season in the next 48 hours the biggest and the best of the mardi gras parades will roll through the city of new orleans elaborate tractor-drawn floats are the centerpiece of every mardi gras parade as they have been for over 120 years the first documented float parade was in 1857 with the first carnival organization called the mystic crew of comas why a float i'm not really sure except that it was almost a moving tableau almost a play on wheels floats have evolved into technological wonders that require extensive design and construction floats today need to carry a lot more people a lot more weight there's animation on them there's high-tech lighting and we have to work uh year-round to get all these floats running brian kern is a third generation float builder in 1947 his father established the blaine kern company with six mardi gras floats today the price of marching can be very high this year we're introducing a lot of fiber optics in the mardi gras and one float for the crew of orpheus the leviathan is going to have about 200 000 worth of lighting it seemed ideal to have a long float like a dragon then thinking about that and working that through over the years it seemed like having a sea serpent added more to the mythological aspect and so therefore the leviathan was born there is a practical side to float building as well by law a mardi gras parade cannot stop so no matter how elaborate the design they all need a bathroom they're hidden in the design of the float you'll see every float will have either something that looks like a tree trunk or a pillar or something in the center or at the back and there's a door that you get in the orpheus floats begin to arrive at the new orleans convention center eight hours before parade time there dozens of volunteers mobilize this should be right in there the biggest job by far is unloading trinkets by the truckload that will be thrown along the parade route our float has the best throws of all mardi gras i know we do hands down although orpheus is only five years old it has become a celebrity studded event this year producer quincy jones actor forest whitaker author anne rice and broadway star tommy tune will rule their own floats it's a gumbo man it's a human gumball and that's uh emotional ritualistic gumball that's what it feels like let's get the sign boards on we're not pulling out until our sound system is done all right as parade time nears for the crew of orpheus sonny makes final preparations meanwhile hundreds of crew members are putting the finishing touches on their costumes they're always different they're meant to match the float uh and i don't know the trousers i think are made more for men they're a little bit hotter for us women but we still don't three hours before parade time sunny gathers the crew of orpheus for a final pep talk and we are reminded once again of mardi gras ties to religion we always ask our god to bless us as we go out tonight and i'm going to ask father tom hoffman to lead us on prayer give us a safe ride this night allow us to be happy and wonderful and loving people to the people of new orleans we ask this in the name of jesus christ the lord amen it's an hour before parade time and all the pieces are in place with the setting sun casting its golden light the crew of orpheus is towed through new orleans to the garden district where the parade will begin new orleans has all raid route there is time for one last break before rolling into history [Music] as the sun sets on the new orleans skyline the flambeau torches are lit and at 802 it's party time for sonny and the crew of orpheus you're working your job is to get as many beads as possible to as many people as quickly as possible people out there are begging for trinkets that are absolutely worthless uh but they but just must have them that that particular time and you're just granting their wish it's almost surreal because all you can see is a sea of faces and hands and everybody's yelling [Music] [Applause] in its simplest form the orpheus parade is actually an elaborate carpool to transport the members of orpheus from their parade staging area to their own lavish party at the new orleans convention center and all of these people dressed in their very expensive formal wear start acting like everybody you just saw on the street [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] there's vans playing there's music going on there's drink there's food and ladies and beated gowns on guys shoulders yelling and screaming for bees then you're just helping them because these are your people these are your guests things seem to get better and better and better and um this year just turned out to be absolutely wonderful and fantastic here that the city's european heritage is most obvious geographically the french quarter makes up only a tiny percentage of new orleans but it is ground zero for hundreds of thousands of partygoers i'm from london england capitalino florida linwood new jersey i came down from mobile and joined in mardi gras we're here for the educational experience of mardi gras i came to visit some people in florida and we're attached to the plane here in new orleans thought we'd stop by and see how it's going i'm here because i'm local i live here i'm the state senator from this area it's a class field trip where we test that when we get home okay the history what it means to us it will not end until midnight you'll have to the state police and the city police will come through here at midnight with the with the police cars and the sirens shutting everything down one fat twozy and then it's over but from now until then it's noho's boy everything's free welcome to the best series dedicated to bergen in the whole united states of america bourbon street the most infamous street in the french quarter is a year-round street party there is no open container law so people wander from bar to bar drinking alcohol from gold cups on bourbon street everyone is an actor in the elaborate play called mardi gras [Music] [Music] mardi gras is not only a huge party it reflects the exuberant diversity of new orleans and that's why it's so beloved by so many people [Music] what carnival opens up is a world of creativity and fantasy [Music] it's not only the day [Music] the true magic of it lies in what i call a perpetual calendar of fantasy of preparation enactment and of memory i can remember when i was five six years old i could take the little red wagon and put somebody in it and put on some costumes of sorts and we would have a parade in front of the house i used to go with my father to load the float in rex's den and one day i've always said that i wish i could be on the float one day [Music] i was five years old and there was a i thought a gorgeous maybe a six-year-old little girl who was a page to the king on the float and i fell in love and the next day cut her picture out of the paper and kept it till i was about 12 years old maybe i was six or seven and i'd climb up on the lamppost and i'd plant myself and i'd stand there and i'd dress as a fireman or a cowboy or something and the trick was to use the hat to catch the beads or whatever my father when i was a kid he had the station where he loaded up all the kids in the neighborhood and we'd come down here and play hide and go seek on the floats great place to play hide-and-go-seek [Music] every year countless new memories of mardi gras are created as the party is grown in both popularity and size no one knows how many people come to mardi gras because we don't sell tickets one thing we do know is nearly one billion dollars is annually pumped into the economy because of mardi gras with an annual influx of over 5 million people during mardi gras the city of new orleans needs to prepare [Music] their first order of business is to grant parade permits for the numerous new orleans crews then there is attending to the needs of a population dedicated to drinking over 2 000 portable bathrooms are set up around the city then the city of new orleans sets up a battle plan to deploy the 1200 men and women of the new orleans police force we have seen over the last several years where crime actually goes down during mardi gras even the criminals to a certain extent are distracted from their normal day-to-day duties and responsibilities by the festivities that are going on since they're often outnumbered 100 to one new orleans finest need an advantage in unruly crowd situations the parties in the french quarter and along the parade routes make police cars almost obsolete this is where horses enable the police to respond quickly and with a better view of any disturbance [Music] in the private sector shops and businesses also need to prepare [Music] along bourbon street excess is a necessity truckloads of kings boatloads of seafood and enough aspirin to handle over a million hangovers [Music] because of the thousands of partygoers who pack bourbon street throughout mardi gras many local hotels have adopted unique forms of crowd control this hotel becomes literally a war zone it is a prison we come in we do everything from walking up the window as the party continues to rock bourbon street the men and women of the new orleans police department are watching closely [Music] on first glance a six-block street filled with over 200 000 people in various stages of intoxication would seem like a problem but the new orleans police have it well under control temperate enforcement is the way i would describe it with the crowds this massive the type of atmosphere that you have during mardi gras that party type of attitude you would be doing yourself a disservice if you went out there and tried to really play hardball with people that's not what this is all about we're out there to maintain order and first and foremost to ensure that people enjoy themselves and they remain injury free police do not enter this battle without a plan ten officers are deployed at each corner of bourbon street they're in constant communication with mounted police and other field units their goal maintain order any type of violent confrontation where someone could get hurt we address immediately with an arrest why did you smack the heart don't walk off urinating in public uh fornicating in public things like that we'll address that immediately with arrest other things if we can address it with warnings and make sure that it doesn't occur again we prefer to do that on average there are over 700 arrests each mardi gras season mostly for small disturbances when an arrest is made the suspects are held in detention vans deployed around the french quarter [Applause] we have sufficient manpower down there to handle anything that happens and uh for the most part people down on bourbon street just have a good time but bourbon street has not completely cornered the market on mardi gras [Applause] parties one of the most lavish takes place in the city's garden district each year author anne rice plays host of friends and celebrities who come to celebrate the bacchus night parade you can't say mardi gras decided to be here it's like mardi gras grew out of what we are our love for getting together with loved ones our love for spectacle i love to show up to dance to listen to music it's all there it's all captured in mardi gras for actor forest whitaker it's a first time mardi gras people look great man everybody's having such a blast everybody's been really open it's really beautiful new orleans resident delta burke feels there is a little child in all of us if you're grown up and you get excited about the blooming and you're rolling around in the gutter to pick them up that means that you're a kid and you're just happy and you're you know you're just having a good time [Music] after 364 days of preparation it is the dawn of another fat tuesday today both rex and zulu will roll through the streets of new orleans traditionally a fat tuesday parade slot is the most coveted rex has been marching on this day since 1872 zulu since 1909 it's 6 a.m and there are only 18 hours left before the official close of mardi gras while the rest of america is still sleeping the men and women of the zulu social aid and pleasure club are continuing a tradition that has lasted 82 years the black face which is one of one of the things unique about zulu was created by the the individuals that founded this organization because they could not afford the biomass and that that is our trademark after a traditional breakfast zulu members board buses to the parade staging area it is a peaceful time to reflect on the work behind them and the fun ahead when nick harris and the other members arrive there is still work to be done it's gonna be a beautiful day i hope i have enough throws zulu was the first integrated crew they have about 380 members but about a thousand riders and i bet more than a third of their riders are white even though it's a black group and they all wear blackface and white gloves so you really can't tell the race of the person beneath the mask does anyone have brought in the makeup about the makeup majesty good morning i'm doing well thank you while the members of zulu finish their preparations the members of rex are beginning to gather at the claiborne street den as the clock ticks closer to their 10 a.m parade time the den begins to buzz with excitement jack wineman chosen rex of 1996 has lived the excitement of this morning over 40 times one of my friends uh asked me said what was the biggest thrill on mardi gras day and i replied when the den doors opened and my float the kingsport went out into the sunlight all of a sudden all this planning comes to fruition your majesty today you rule over the monarchy of new orleans we the former kings would like to toast to you and wish you a glorious ride through your city hail at 8 30 a.m the parade begins to roll down claiborne avenue you're excited you get more excited when you see the people below excited to see you was one of my favorite parades because i don't know of any organization that has more fun than zulu [Music] the flow totally ever matched the theme and it really doesn't matter it's a big parade it's a gaudy parade and of course zulu is famous for its golden coconut and it is the most valuable throw you can get the coconut for all its simplicity is the most intricate of all mardi gras throws [Applause] the members of zulu spend months at home shaving and hand crafting their coconuts each of the 27 crews within zulu creates their own unique design this coconut was created back in early 1900s as the official throw for zulu it's decorative very creative in very different ways it's unique in the sense that no other crew has it but zula is our trademark ironically even though coconuts are the most valuable throws at mardi gras by law they cannot be thrown it seems that so many people were hit by flying coconuts that the city created a law to protect the people on the receiving end today all coconuts must be handed instead of tossed but they remain one of mardi gras's most enduring symbols [Music] the crew of rex also has their own traditional throws called doubloons the doubloons started in 1960 and became an instant hit people loved to catch the doubloons they look like a coin bright gold and a shower of those will make the crowd really scramble to get them it's 12 hours before the close of carnival and the historic rex parade is on the streets although rex is not the largest parade it draws some of the biggest crowds everyone wants to get a look at the king of mardi gras new orleans knows how to do this they know how to do it with a minimum of trouble i mean thousands of people gather on st charles avenue for these parades nine after night and we don't have any problems at all as zulu winds down the members pass out the last of the valued coconuts meanwhile many parade watchers mill down to bourbon street to continue the party there are only six hours left till the close of mardi gras and thousands begin to pack the french quarter for the final hours of fat tuesday here locals and tourists alike feast on creole and cajun cooking from some of the finest restaurants in the south there are clear signs that this will be one of the biggest party nights of the year meanwhile across town with just four hours left of the world's greatest party dazzling sights and sounds fill a massive hall the setting of the traditional rex ball the traditional balls are connected to the debutant season and the highest honor a young woman could have is to be a maid or queen of one of these balls the traditional close of the carnival season is when the king of rex leaves his own ball to visit the king of comas it is a century-old tradition but just because the mardi gras royalty has retired does not mean the party is over as the final hours of fat tuesday tick away the french quarter pulsates with pure energy [Music] partygoers look to outdo each other with extreme and obscene acts each more outrageous than the next [Applause] [Music] i've never done anything like this before it's pretty crazy there was a girl who was sporting him that's [Applause] the french quarter just has a lot of atmosphere a lot of human manure circulating on bourbon street that's for sure i'm sitting here walking around with my jaw down saying this is unbelievable a lot of exposure [Applause] we've got everything out of our system and now we're ready to uh get into a little more religion mardi gras officially ends at midnight on tuesday which is the beginning of ash wednesday which is the beginning of lent it's our responsibility to go down and inform people on bourbon street that mardi gras is over and that bourbon street will be closed and then we do what we call a sweep [Music] what that entails is uh first of all our mounted division and they lead a procession of police vehicles and sanitation vehicles and we we sweep the street clear of people and then the sanitation people come in and begin their job cleanup up until a few years ago we had one of the strangest success barometers in the world for mardi gras and the city weighed all the trash collected and the more trash the more successful carnival was it peaked out and i think 1984 with 2000 tons of garbage now that we have recycling we're not quite as messy [Music] as loud and crazy as new orleans is on mardi gras it is equally quiet and reverent on ash wednesday [Music] thousands of natives flocked to the city's historic churches for mass [Music] outside the church the city is eerily quiet many people return to work knowing the next 40 days will be a penance for the celebration of mardi gras welcome as he does after every carnival season jack weinman returns from church on ash wednesday to relax with family and friends this year there are three generations of weinman's recounting stories of mardi gras little mardi gras i don't consider it a pagan wildness the entertainment that goes with the balls and the parades is so much a part of life here that it the droids wouldn't be the same if it were not there the carnival is over now let's get back to the real part of it yeah nick harris director of public relations for zulu is also home relaxing he is with his wife claire and son nicholas neither have seen much of nick over the last two weeks i like that you know that feeling that that rush and that you get when our carnival arrives and then the next day you somewhat feel that emptiness because you know it's not necessary to do anything else right now i'm complaining every carnival oh it's too much work here this is too much and this is too much but actually i love it it's a feeling of accomplishment one that we had a great parade when we had a wonderful mardi gras a safe one uh tired but a good tired sunny bourree is retired to his alexandra street home to enjoy the peace and quiet of lent the city always feels the same to me whether it's monte grande or not there's just something very special about this city uh this is a place that gets in your blood uh you would never want to leave here once you live here [Music] but even on this day of rest the driving mentality of every new orleanian who grew up with mardi gras is clear you don't have the crowds screaming in your ear they're still screaming in your heart though [Music] parties must never end it's got to keep continuing that that's part of the world's outside we will party at any excuse at the drop of a hat this morning we had to have our final breakfast together [Music] and start planning next year i mean mardi gras is less than a year away [Applause] so [Music] [Applause] as tlc continues its evening of the greatest get to know the kings and queens of the flying trapeze they've been defying death for decades now see what it's like to live life on the high wire the flying wallendas next from tlc [Music] you

Channel: Vintage Broadcasting System

Views: 18,352

Keywords: new orleans, fat tuesday, mardi gras, TLC, 1998, documentary, parade, black face, anne rice, Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club

Id: idXJBmDMmU8

Length: 30min 57sec (1857 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 24 2020