Gay Mardi Gras: Goin' Down In The Bayou!

It makes perfect sense that Mardi Gras should be the most fabulous celebration in New Orleans, and that New Orleans should have the most fabulous Mardi Gras in the United States. For it was on Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") in 1699 that explorer Pierre LeMoyne first encamped here along the Mississippi River.

Mardi Gras is known in many parts of the world as Carnival, from the Italian for "taking away the meat" or "putting away the flesh." In New Orleans, the ribald several-day celebration consists of colorful parades, gala costume balls and especially in the gay community, plenty of fleshly pursuits.

This year, Mardi Gras was from February 19 - 24. The rollicking celebration draws large, intense crowds. And although the parades themselves are free, the city's hotels book up, and the costs of airfare, parking and certain other services and goods can rise into the upper stratosphere.

But for most people, the chance to partake of arguably the most colorful and exciting people watching, and to beg for beads and trinkets while watching the riotously elaborate parades rumble by, more than warrants putting up with relatively minor inconveniences.

Mardi Gras' most famous events are parades and gala balls, sponsored and hosted by particular private clubs, each of which comes up with a new theme every year for its particular parade or ball. These clubs are called krewes.

Themes vary greatly, but typically have roots in historical events, often with mythical associations. A parade has a lead float and then a king's float, followed by as many as 20 or 30 additional floats. There are also more than a half-dozen gay krewes that run Mardi Gras processions, from the Lords of Leather to Queenateenas.

Parades generally follow the same format, with the krewe's captain leading the procession on a float or sometimes on horseback, followed by that year's officers (kings, queens and so on), followed by marching bands, motorcycle squads, teams of clowns and other entertainers.

Those walking or riding the parade route throw trinkets, bead necklaces, and doubloons (commemorative coins) to the spectators lining the parade route. A gala ball follows, during which the royal court and its officers, clad in flamboyant costume, are feted into the wee hours. The galas are private, open only by invitation. (If invited, you'll be expected to wear a tuxedo if you're a man, or a floor-length gown if you're a woman).

The epicenter of gay action during Mardi Gras is mostly located at the corner of Bourbon Street and St. Ann Street, anchored by the city's largest gay nightclub, The Bourbon Pub/Parade. This area comes alive with drag queens, leather daddies and other outlandishly clad revelers, many of them flashing, necking and performing the occasional scandalous fleshly act right out in the open.

On Mardi Gras day, you won't want to miss the wildly campy Bourbon Street Awards, held right outside the city's two hottest bars, Oz and Bourbon Pub, at noon. This is a celebration of the most outrageous Mardi Gras costumes.

For all practical purposes, although there are Mardi Gras events throughout the entire season, Mardi Gras weekend extends from the Friday before Fat Tuesday through midnight on Fat Tuesday.

Many visitors to New Orleans for their first Mardi Gras are surprised to learn that no official parades actually pass within the borders of the French Quarter. But rest assured, there's plenty going on in the Quarter throughout the weekend, from smaller informal groups of costumed participants staging their own processions to spectators tossing beads off balconies to (often drunken) pedestrians down below.

Hotels book up a full year in advance, but you can almost always find cancellations during the weeks -- and even days -- leading up to Mardi Gras. Your best bet is simply to consult your favorite travel search engine.

The definitive on-the-ground source of information for gay goings-on is Gay Mardi Gras.com , which is sponsored by the local gay newspaper Ambush.

You can learn about the parade routes by checking the New Orleans Times Picayune newspaper. Many hotels distribute free guides to guests, and there are a handful of magazines dedicated solely to Mardi Gras available at bookstores and newsstands all around the city.

Of course, New Orleans is full of great gay bars and clubs, and these are only a few of the popular haunts you'll want to check out:

Bourbon Pub/Parade
801 Bourbon St.

Friendly Bar
2301 Chartres St.

Lafitte in Exile
(The oldest gay bar in the U.S.)
901 Bourbon St.

Good Friends Bar/Queen's Head Pub
740 Dauphine St.

Le Roundup
819 St. Louis St.

Lucille's Golden Lantern
1239 Royal St.

Napoleon's Itch
734 Bourbon St.

Ninth Circle
700 North Rampart St.

Oz
800 Bourbon St.

Rawhide 2010 Lounge
740 Burgundy St.

Starlight by the Park
834 N. Rampart St.