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A First-Timers Guide to Pensacola Mardi Gras

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Mardi Gras, but with a Pensacola twist! There's truly something for everyone to enjoy during the Mardi Gras season in Pensacola. Read on to find out all the "must knows" for your first Mardi Gras in Pensacola!

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Why We Mardi Gras: Pensacola’s Carnival Roots

In 1874, Pensacola residents saw all the fun their Gulf Coast neighbors were having celebrating Fat Tuesday and decided to start their own Mardi Gras. Now, more than a century later, the Pensacola Mardi Gras Grand Parade is one of the largest celebrations on the Gulf Coast, attracting up to 100,000 people.

For nearly 150 years, people have lined the streets of Pensacola each winter in hopes of catching a string of shining beads, a handful of candy, or the most coveted throw off all, the Moonpie. (Moonpies, for the uninformed, are chocolate-dipped marshmallow pies. They also come in vanilla, strawberry and banana-dipped, but chocolate is king.)

Winding through Historic Downtown Pensacola — the event includes a king, queen, and royal court, about 250 floats, marching bands and dance teams, an avalanche of green, gold, and purple beads and balloons — all manned by about 6,000 people. It is quite a bedazzled spectacle. (Heads up: the Grand Parade can last more than four hours from beginning to end, so wear comfortable shoes and bring drinks and snacks.)

Mardi Gras runs from the first Saturday in January, the 12th night after Christmas, until Fat Tuesday. Why Fat Tuesday? Well, it’s your last chance to eat, drink, and be merry before the fasting and sacrifice of the Christian Lenten season begins on Ash Wednesday.

Parades & Mardi Gras Happenings

To celebrate Mardi Gras in Pensacola there are a several big events to be sure you're at. The first one takes place the first Saturday of January for the kickoff to Mardi Gras season. Come see the floats lined up to get into the spirit of Mardi Gras.

Pensacola’s parade celebrations aren’t just limited to land, either. As the saying goes, “whatever floats your boat,” right? Each year, the Pirates of Lost Treasure host their own unique Mardi Gras celebration with the Pirate Flotilla – an annual floating boat parade that travels down the Intracoastal Waterway in Perdido Key. (FYI – the flotilla starts at Hub Stacey’s and ends at the legendary Flora-Bama Bar, where the unofficial party continues afterward.)

Another annual event called Pawdi Gras is iconic, and well if you haven't guessed, there are pets involved. You read that right! It's Pensacola's biggest dog Mardi Gras Celebration. With a paw-rade, vendors, food and drinks, and more fun, it's the perfect way to enjoy Mardi Gras with your furry friend.

The Trifecta

The week leading up to Fat Tuesday is filled with fun - what locals lovingly call the trifecta.

On Thursday, the Mardi Gras Mambo takes place at the Pensacola Bay Center; it's a concert and night of fun with a party atmosphere that sets the tone for the weekend ahead.

To continue the weekend, you have your Krewe of Lafitte Illuminated Parade downtown Friday night. If you want to see lighted floats with a nighttime atmosphere, this is the one for you.Saturday is the biggest day of the weekend, with the Grand Mardi Gras Parade rolling at 2:00 p.m. Parents with young kids flock to this family-friendly parade that runs parallel to the sugar-white sands of the beach. With a long parade route, there are plenty of viewing spots.

Sunday is the Pensacola Beach Krewe of Wrecks Parade that rolls down Via De Luna. It's also proof that only in Pensacola can you catch beads with sand between your toes.

Now once the weekend is over, Seville Quarter is Fat Tuesday headquarters for the last celebration of the Mardi Gras season in Pensacola. You won't want to miss it!

Be sure and familiarize yourself with the parade routes before you go!

Mardi Gras Happenings

Here's a quick run-down of the parades and happenings in Pensacola.

What to Expect (Tips Before You Go)

Parade Throws: There’s Plenty to Go Around

Don’t worry about pushing your way to the barricades to catch throws. Our krewes are experts and know how to toss beads and bears to the less aggressive folk and the “stroller set” in the back.

The best place to be? At the beginning of the parade route, they are super generous with throws, and then at the end, they are trying to get rid of everything that’s left. (As the end of the parade goes by you’ll see a determined crowd scramble for a second shot at parade’s end.)

Don’t squabble over throws. There is always going to be another string of plastic beads flying toward your face.

If candy hits the ground, let it go.

Crowd Vibes

Have fun! There are going to be crowds, and someone in that crowd will catch an elbow to the eye. There will be a lot of walking. Someone within earshot - man, woman, child - is going to cry over a stuffed monkey.It’s Mardi Gras! So go in relaxed, jam with the bands, have a MoonPie for dinner and laissez les bon temps rouler!

Costumes Encouraged (The More Ridiculous, the Better)

Ever wondered when you would wear that ridiculous lighted top hat, your blinking tiara, or that full-body cow suit from Halloween 2012? This is the place!

Eats and Treats

Mardi Party in Pensacola: King Cake Treats

Want to eat like a Fat Tuesday reveler? Traditional Mardi Gras fare includes red beans and rice, gumbo and the king cake. (A king cake is a bread-like pastry shaped like a wreath with icing and sugar sprinkles in the royal colors of purple, yellow and green. But its most distinctive trait is the small, plastic baby hidden inside. As the tradition goes, whoever gets the slice with the baby is named “King’ for the day and should have good luck for the coming year.) As Pensacola celebrates the Mardi Gras season, you’ll find plenty of these treats and more in local shops and restaurants.

Learn More

So, take the opportunity so soak up a little Gulf Coast culture, sunshine, food and fun as we countdown to the biggest party of the year!


For more information:

Pensacola: pensacolamardigras.com
Pensacola Beach: pensacolabeachmardigras.com

Jahna Jacobson

Author

Jahna Jacobson

Jahna Jacobson has spent nearly every waking hour of the last quarter century writing about Pensacola as both a journalist and a public relations professional. If you need to know where to go, what to eat, what to do, who will be there, she can tell you. She enjoys posting pictures of the Pensacola Beach all winter to annoy and recruit friends and family in her home state of Wisconsin.
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