Pack Your Beads for the Best Mardi Gras Parties Outside of New Orleans
You don't need to be in the Big Easy to celebrate Fat Tuesday.
'Tis the season to throw inhibitions and an exorbitant amount of beads to the wind—that's right, it's Mardi Gras. While New Orleans may be synonymous with this wild Carnival celebration, it turns out you don't need to travel to the Big Easy to get a taste of the Fat Tuesday festivities. These seven Mardi Gras bashes around the US take their partying just as seriously as NOLA does—from high-energy live music performances and late-night masquerades to gravity-defying dancers and all the Hurricane-fueled debauchery any mere mortal can manage.
Mobile, Alabama
January 26–February 13
Masked Carnival antics have been going on in Mobile since the early 1700s—more than a decade before a single bead was thrown towards half-dressed spectators in Louisiana. Mobile's claim to fame is being "the country's original Fat Tuesday," and now hundreds of years later, this Alabama Mardi Gras still draws in millions of people for a three-week affair of parades and masked balls. Costumed members of the city's various mythic societies pile onto floats—most of them two-story, fitting up to 15 riders—and throw all manner of goodies to revelers in the streets.
St. Louis, Missouri
January 6–February 13
Aside from being the birthplace of Chuck Berry and Anheuser-Busch brews, St. Louis is actually a badass place to visit and boasts the biggest Mardi Gras outside of NOLA. And let's just say that with tens of thousands of attendees and more floats than you can even count, the Bud Light Grand Parade is the piece de resistance of this entire affair. Show up for the beads and stay for the food—street vendors set up along Soulard and the area's finest establishments serve up food and drink specials and live music.
Biloxi, Mississippi
February 3–March 4
If this were a Westside Story-style showdown with New Orleans repping the Jets, then Biloxi is unequivocally the Sharks. It hosts arguably one of the most lively Mardi Gras celebrations on the Gulf Coast. We're talking a 300-year-long history of 25 different parades, over 100 floats, and a party at literally every bayou. Plus, gambling is legal there—yet another reason the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast is supremely underrated.
Lafayette, Louisiana
February 2–3 & February 9–3
This Louisiana Mardi Gras is packed with Creole flavor in the form of masked men in search of ingredients to make the perfect pot of gumbo. Yep, this is real—it's called Courir de Mardi Gras. With origins in medieval France, this one-of-a-kind celebration involves over 2,000 participants and a 15-mile courir, or run. At designated stops, the leader, or capitaine, releases a chicken, as roadside spectators cheer on.
Pensacola, Florida
January 6–February 11
Per usual, if there's a raunchy party to be had, Florida will find a way to throw its beads into the Alligator pit. Tampa has Gasparilla—while not technically associated with Mardi Gras, it certainly rivals it, with hundreds of pirates invading the shores with beads and booze galore. And unbeknownst to many, Pensacola has been hosting its Grand Mardi Gras Parade since the 19th century, and it's still the town’s largest event with more than 100,000 spectators a year.
Galveston, Texas
February 2–13
It should be no surprise that Mardi Gras in the Lone Star State is a rowdy ol' time, and this year’s event is expected to draw in hundreds of thousands of people. Dating to 1871, the 11-day fan-favorite extravaganza boasts all kinds of spectacles, from the Funky Uptown Umbrella Brigade to the Zaniest Golf Cart Parade. There will also be a jester-themed 5K run, as well as a performance by country star Hayden Baker.