Inside a Carnival Krewe

    This is the real deal of Mardi Gras! It's these organizations that put on all the parades that tourists flock to the city to see! The government has no part in planning or putting on the parade. They simply provide the police presence and the infrastructure. Everything else is done by the krewe itself. Getting in with a krewe and going to krewe events is like having a backstage pass to Mardi Gras! Traditions vary slightly between krewes for different things but the basic make up of our events is the same. These parties and festivities are events that tourists rarely get to see. But you know me *wink*, so here we go!
    My family belongs to the Krewe of Carrollton, which is the fourth oldest parading krewe in New Orleans. Like many krewes, Carrollton is an all male krewe. This means that the actual members are the guys, and they're the ones who ride on the floats and attend the meetings. Yet, this doesn't mean that women aren't involved! Ladies attend pretty much every event, plus the Past Queens and the wives of the King's Circle members (explanation momentarily) hold many of their own women-only events. There are also all female krewes (like Muses) and co-ed krewes (like Orpheus). For a krewe, Mardi Gras IS year round! Parties, get-togethers, dinners, and celebrations of varying size and formality occur all year. Meetings are held to discuss plans for the upcoming parade and ball. Also, of course (like anything else in New Orleans), to eat, drink, and generally have a good time. The leader of the krewe is called the Captain. The Captain is Captain for life (or until he chooses to resign). It is traditional for the Captain's identity not to be made public (although of course, the people in the krewe know who it is!). This is why you will see a Captain masked during a parade. The Captain is usually in all white riding at the very front of the parade. Although the position of Captain is voted on by a group of Officers, it is typical (especially for a well-liked Captain) to make it generally known who he wants to succeed him.  The Captain appoints the Officers, who help him in choosing that year's theme and selecting what float titles will be.  The krewe also has an executive board that is voted on by the members who take care of a lot of the financial and logistic decisions in the Krewe. The Royal Court has no part in making decisions, and hold their titles for one year. So yes, a Carnival Krewe has a Captain, a President, and a King... all at the same time!
    The events in the krewe generally revolve around the Royal Court and the celebration of their reign. Carrollton's Court is made up of a King and Queen who each have 2 pages, usually 6 or 8 maids and their dukes, junior maids (number varies), and ladies in waiting (around 10). Junior maids are girls usually around 12 - 15 years old. Maids are girls usually 16 - 20. Their dukes are typically men in the krewe and vary widely in age. Ladies in waiting are usually little girls 5-11 years old. The Queen is typically around 18-21. The King is a member of the krewe and his age can vary widely. Their pages are young boys and girls usually between 5 and 10. Other krewes' courts are similar although size and titles may vary. For instance, the king of Thoth is called the "Pharaoh" since Thoth is an Egyptian god. Some krewes may have more or less maids, that sort of thing. Different krewes also have differing traditions on how the court members are selected. This is how Carrollton does it...
    If you're a lady in waiting, junior maid, maid, page, or Queen, it's very simple. You pay. Family members pay the krewe, and the girl's name is put down on the list for the court for that year. For everything except Queen, the name does not have to be down too far ahead of time. Queens book up YEARS ahead. My daughter is two, and she is down to be Queen of Carrollton in 2027. We put her on the list as soon as the ultrasound confirmed we were having a girl. There are names down every year up to 2027 and some past that! There are families who put down a family's name for certain years for children who have not yet been conceived! This is the process for many of the krewes. The Twelfth Night Revellers, however, use the tradition of the King Cake to pick their court. Instead of a baby, they place one gold bean and several silver beans inside of a cake, and give slices to all girls of eligibility. The girl with the gold bean is the Queen, and the silver beans are her maids.
    For King the process is much different. In Carrollton, there is a club within the club called the King's Circle. The members of the King's Circle pay an additional fee to be a member. There are only 60 spots in the King's Circle, and it's of these 60 men that the King is chosen. Sometime in August, we have a "Pulling Party". A blank invitation is set out near the door, and all King's Circle members sign it as they enter the party. They then pick a number. Once all members are in attendance, the signed invite is placed in an envelope and mixed in among unsigned invites in envelopes. The members assemble, and according to the number they pulled, choose an envelope. They do not open these envelopes until the party is over. Once they are alone, they open the envelope. Whoever gets the signed invite has three options. 1. They can accept it and be king. 2. They can give it to any other member of the King's Circle. 3. They can sell it. The member who pulled it calls the Captain and let's him know what his decision is. If he chooses to sell it, the Captain then takes over. He has a list of which members are interested in case King comes up to buy. He calls these members and asks them to put in a bid. This bid can be for ANY amount. Nobody else's bid is revealed. Simply the highest bid offered gets the Kingship. King selection varies widely between krewes. Some krewes only pull from a select group, some, like Endymion, pull from all members of the krewe. Others have a list, similar to a Queen's list.
    The King's identity remains secret until the Coronation Ball, which is held usually around late October or early November. The Coronation is really a transitional event-saying farewell to last year's court and welcoming this year's. The ladies of the court are presented in white gowns, and the whole atmosphere is slightly less formal than at the actual Carnival Ball. Coronation Balls are fairly new to the Carnival scene, around 20 years ago, but once they were introduced, many krewes have picked up on them as if they were any traditional Carnival necessity. At Carrollton's the Captain makes a big to-do over who the next king will be by walking around the ballroom and trying the crown on various King's Circle members' heads in turn. He'll often fake-out the audience by placing the crown, shaking the member's hand, only to remove the crown as soon as that member begins to stand up. It's very amusing! In Endymion, any member can be crowned King, and the audience watches as a name is pulled from a large basket at random. It has happened before where a member's very first year in Endymion has been his year as king! 
    Between the Coronation and the Carnival Ball, there are numerous parties that occur in honor of the Court. Sometimes, court members' families throw a party (usually revolving around king cake) for their family and friends honoring their lady of the court. The Queen is expected to throw a luncheon for her and all of her maids to attend. The King throws a luncheon as well. One very popular place for these luncheons is Antoine's, an upscale, historic New Orleans restaurant that houses a good amount of Mardi Gras memorabilia. There is a room in Antoine's called "The Rex Room" because it houses memorabilia from past royalty of the Krewe of Rex as well as portraits of EVERY King and Queen of Carnival. This is the most popular room to request for a King or Queen's luncheon. An Open House is also held for krewe members to purchase Carrollton throws (as in beads, cups, etc... that is... anything you could throw off a float with the Carrollton emblem on it), Carrollton shirts and such, and favors and ball invitations.
    It is traditional for krewe members to purchase krewe favors to give to their female guests at the Ball. Sometimes these are necklaces or brooches, compact mirrors, small music boxes. They're usually some sort of small item that goes along with the theme for the year although sometimes they just have the krewe emblem on it. This year they're a really nice picture frame with the krewe emblem. 
    How do you get invited to a Carnival Ball? Usually, you have to know someone in the krewe, who either pays for your invitation or you give them money, and they'll pick up your invitation for you. Orpheus, Endymion, and Zulu sell invitations to their Balls online to the public. It is considered very poor taste to refer to Ball Invitations as "tickets", even though you pay for them and use them for admittance. Yes, in the case of Carnival Balls, you pay to be invited.
    Balls are extremely formal events. Men wear tuxedos and ladies wear floor length gowns. Even the craziest, hugest Carnival Balls, like the Endymion Extravaganza and the Orpheuscapade (which don't even have Court presentations), are formal-attire only. The fantastic paradox about Carrollton and Endymion (and most of the Carnvial Balls) is that... they're BYOL (Bring Your OWn Liquor). So It's perfectly normal to see people in long evening gowns and tuxedos pulling ice chests and carrying grocery bags full of booze into an event that with protocol doormen who WILL turn you away if you're not in proper attire.
    As explained in a previous post, Carnival Balls come in two parts, the tableau and the supper-dance. Some krewes do them on separate nights and locations. Some, like Thoth, do them on the same night, but hold the two parts in different rooms. Carrollton holds both parts in the same room on the same night. In any krewe's presentation, you will notice that surrounding the dance floor are reserved seats that are just for ladies. These seats can be requested when purchasing invitations.
    The presentation of the court will start with introducing the Return Court, these are the maids and Queen of last year's Carnival Ball. Then, the present court is introduced. First the maids, then the King, then the ladies in waiting and the Queen. Each member of the court processes around the floor and curtsies or bows (except for the King and Queen, who wave their scepters) at different locations around the floor to acknowledge all of the guests. There are then usually several special presentations that the King and Queen make, flowers for the Returning Queen and usually presents to the wife of the King, mother of the Queen, and other special guests. Carrollton has a special tradition of presenting dolls to the wife of the King and mother of the Queen that are perfect representations of the King and Queen's costumes. After these presentations are over, the entire court processes once more around the floor in what's called "the Grand March" while the orchestra plays the official song of Mardi Gras, "If Ever I Cease to Love." The presentation is then over and the supper-dance begins! This all occurs over about a 2 hour period. At Carrollton, the presentation begins at 9, and dinner is not usually served until around 11. This can vary depending on how many court members there are, and in the case of a very traditional tableau, which some krewes do, there are short skits performed between maids that depict different aspects of that year's theme. Those can end up being around 3 hours. They are absolutely stunning events, and I LOVE going to them, but I do like to let people know ahead of time that they should eat beforehand and plan on sitting for a while. That's why I love how Carrollton does it all in one place. Since you're basically already at your dinner table, you can go ahead and snack while it's all going on... wards off the sugar-crash!
   After that, you dance dance dance until the band goes home or until you pass out, whichever comes first! One dance that you will see done during a Carnival Ball is the Second Line. This dance originates from Jazz Funerals. Instead of having everything be very sad and mournful, after the funeral, a Jazz band plays and the family takes the same hankies they used to wipe away their tears and they wave them in the air while they dance to celebrate the life of the person who died. The family and the band are known as the first line, and anyone else who joins in are called the second line, hence the name of the song. This song however, has expanded to be used not just at funerals but at weddings, parties, Carnival Balls... basically any large New Orleans occassion. You'll notice that a lot of people have special, decorated umbrellas at the Ball. As soon as this song starts, you'll see them all appear out of nowhere, and the dance floor will be a sea of umbrellas and people dancing with napkins!
   The morning of the parade, Carrollton has a breakfast at the House of Blues for the krewe and family and friends, after which everyone second lines back to the Hilton, which is where everyone gets dressed for the parade. Everyone riding is loaded into buses and taken to the start of the route. The Return court is taken in their costumes to ride in the parade. The current maids and Queen dress in skirt suits with matching gloves and hats and are taken in limos to the front of the parade where they toast to the Captain and King for a good ride. Then, they're taken to grandstands in front of a hotel to have brunch and then review the parade as it passes. The Queen toasts to the King when his float comes by.
    About a month after the parade, the king of Carrollton hosts a King's Party, a dinner and dance for the members of the court and the King's Circle. In some krewes, this party takes place during Carnival. While there may be several small parties and events that occur during the next couple of months, things stay pretty calm until the following August, when a new King is pulled and the partying begins all over again!
    As you can see, there's a lot that goes on, and every krewe is a little bit different and hold their own special events. Some krewes are extremely secretive, never revealing their royalty to the public and keeping their membership very private, but there are many organizations that are very open and anyone can participate in! Carrollton actually has a good number of out-of-town members. Having our Ball and Parade all in one weekend makes it very easy for guests to come to New Orleans and participate in all the big events. I have listed on the side links to several krewes who sell invites and membership to the general public. Go ahead and check it out! You can be a part of Mardi Gras too!