Krewe of Tradition

Our story

Picture a belly dancer and a clown reveling with wild abandon on a stoop along the parade route on Mardi Gras Day. Curious parade patrons ask of the belly dancer and clown, “why y’all dressed up??” With some lament, the masqueraders have to explain that they are masquerading on Mardi Gras Day in a town that only thirty years prior partook in the same interactive aspect of the celebration. How and when did the art and therapeutic value of masquerading lose favor amongst the East LA Cajuns?

The pair set out to revive the tradition of costuming on Mardi Gras Day by challenging their friends to wear the best costume. That first year, by volume of applause, onlookers selected the first Krewe of Tradition royalty that would set the precedent for all royals yet come. Each following Mardi Gras, the previously selected royalty returns in a promenade leading to the steps of Le Petit Theater de Terrebonne to select their own successors. The deal is sealed with the presentation of crowns, a slice of Cannata’s King Cake, and a champagne toast of the outgoing and incoming royals.

Serendipitously, the year that Krewe of Tradition arrived, so too did the news of the toxicity of imported Mardi Gras throws that had become so synonymous with the celebration. The belly dancer and the clown seized the opportunity to implement a jubilant protest by distributing hand made throws bearing a label informing parade patrons of the harmlessness of their preferable keepsakes.

The crusade to revive an almost lost tradition whilst spreading awareness of toxic imports uplifts the Krewe of Tradition into a realm of active protest to return the Mardi Gras celebration to the people of Houma and their beloved Mardi Gras guests.