Beads Won: Politics in Mardi Gras parades
Delaney Nolan discusses the anti-ICE paraders during Mardi Gras.
Category
Lens Carnival Edition
A collection of news stories, essays, photography, and photos about Carnival, that favorite New Orleans time of year.
Reason #1 Why I hate Mardi Gras: the masks don’t just hide faces
I remember float riders leaning forward, stretching toys and trinkets toward a sea of Black children, only to snatch them back at the last second, enjoying the pain they inflicted. I remember our tiny, chocolate-skinned hands crushed beneath the weight of white feet, sharp and satisfying to icy, piercing blue eyes.
Dolling, in communion with women who first brought sassy to the streets
Nothing is more fun than watching a group of hip-swinging, raddy-walking, second-lining women, says babydoll Denise Augustine, founder of the New Orleans Voodoo Babydolls, who plans to ‘lay down her umbrella’ and retire after this Carnival season.
Carnival is a wary time of year for thousands on supervision in New Orleans
Curfews and court rules shape Carnival for thousands in New Orleans who are on probation or parole. Others find themselves self-isolating after the trauma of doing time.
Banding Together: the heart and resilience of 9th Ward high-school bands
In two 9th Ward schools, Abramson and Douglass, students lean on discipline, music, and one another as they prepare for New Orleans Carnival — and for life beyond the parade route.
‘ICE in our drinks, not in our streets’ this Carnival
To make clear that ICE is not welcome in New Orleans, a group of protesters walked the St. Charles route ahead of the Legion of Mars parade, which last year featured armed ICE officers.
Throw Me Somethin’ Mista
“Throw me my Motha Mista, alive well before age fifty and dancing whole,” writes poet MonaLisa Saloy. This poem kicks off this year’s Lens Carnival Edition, a collection of stories, photography, and poetry.
Big boots to fill
Anthony Hingle Jr. didn’t touch beads or feathers for 32 years. Now he’s back in town, continuing the work of his father, Flagboy Meathead, a legend among Black Masking Indians.
All in a Carnival’s Pay
High winds on Mardi Gras Day truncated Rex’s route and kept Zulu from downtown New Orleans, taking a toll on business owners and on local school bands, which went unpaid for Zulu and other weather-affected parades. Then Rex announced that it would pay the bands booked for its parade, raising questions about the history of band payments from krewes – and why those payments matter.
The Lens Carnival Edition 2025
Our reporters stayed on their beats, covering how Carnival affects the way New Orleans works - and doesn't work.
