The gold, purple and green-streaked weekend at Shoreline Village in Long Beach set the scene for an annual celebration of life that softens the blow of the upcoming Catholic season of fasting: Lent.
The free community event welcomed guests of all walks of life, and many attendees said they merely wandered into the fun by accident.
The hues of Mardi Gras hit the shores with a parade that kicked off at 2 p.m. in front of the Aquarium of the Pacific.
“[The parade] was very ‘walky,’” Chris the-stilt-man said from behind a gold mask with an elongated nose. “Lots of beads … very beady, and walky, and windy. Well it wasn’t windy, but I wanted to get a three-rhyme gig going on there. And I did.”
Chris and his stilt-walking partner Amy, clad in a yellow-feathered boa, looked down upon the scene of Long Beach natives mixed with out-of-towners all afternoon. As for their attire, the stilt-walkers said they simply aimed for a silly look – the colors were not necessarily significant to them.
“This is actually the first year that Long Beach is doing a two-day event,” Logan Crow, Executive Director and Screenings and Events Programmer at Long Beach Cinematheque, said, considering Saturday as the main event. “We had the parade at two o’clock [and] we honored our king and queen, Mayor Robert Garcia and Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal.”
The afternoon may have been filled with the three prominent Mardi Gras shades, but a number of participants had next to no understanding of the colors’ significance. For many, the green, yellow and purple simply helped to channel the spirit of the day.
Crow said that, although he was sure that there is a formal explanation for the traditional colors that are worn during Mardi Gras, he didn’t know it.
Green, which was not one of the original Mardi Gras colors, represents the elements of faith that are tied into the spirit of the day, according to the official Mardi Gras New Orleans website. Gold represents power, and purple dominates the season in representation of justice.
The French phrase, “mardi gras,” translates to literally mean “fat Tuesday,” which many Catholics know to be a day of binging and indulging in activities that they will abstain from when Lent begins.
Lent is the Catholic season of sacrifice that precedes the celebration of Easter. Catholic tradition dictates that willing participants make a sacrifice of some sort by giving something up in the weeks before Easter Sunday.
Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, falls on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which is typically a day of fasting that opens the Lenten season for Catholics. This year, Fat Tuesday will be on Feb. 17.
A little over a week before the calendar-marked Fat Tuesday, the Long Beach Mardi Gras parade led the festivities to the musical hub of the event where the five-piece musical group, the Zydeco Mudbugs, had the audience clapping, laughing and free-styling on the dance floor.
Cheryl and Peter from Orange County were the couple to watch for on the floor. What looked like a rehearsed routine turned out to be free-style swing dancing for them.
“I don’t think we talk too much when we dance,” Cheryl said. “Unless we make a mistake, and then we laugh at what we did.”
They described themselves as “zydeco groupies,” and said they just go wherever the zydeco is.
“If it’s here, then we come here; if it’s somewhere else, that’s where we go,” Cheryl laughed.
Mingling with newcomers lined along the dance area’s entrance, Beth and Jeff wore masquerade-style face masks and explained that they weren’t sure if the colors they wore meant anything significant.
“I don’t know if the colors mean anything specific, but the style is carnival,” Beth said. Her entire costume was gold, from her feathered headdress to the end of her floor-length gown.
Jeff said their costumes had a hidden role behind representing royalty.
“I wanted to make sure that I made [Beth] look good,” he joked. “So whatever I’m wearing, compliments her.”
The event marked the sixth year in a row that Shoreline Village hosted the Long Beach Mardi Gras Parade and Festival. This was the second year that Jeff and Beth have been a part of the festivities.
“We’re ultimately celebrating life in excess,” Jeff explained.