Mardi Gras

lia celebrations in ancient Rome, when a cake was baked with a bean inside and whoever got the slice with the bean was deemed king for a day. Over the centuries it became part of modern Mardi Gras traditions, Williams said. The custom of the bean baked into a cake survived—but in the 1960s a local, now-defunct, bakery chain began inserting tiny baby figurines, made of china, into their cakes. “A lot of people started to get their king cakes there because it was more fun than getting a bean,” said Williams.

WHAT ARE THE BIG PARADES?

The final weekend brings the biggest parades, produced by organizations that borrow traditions from European royalty—anointing kings and queens to rule over the proceedings. The Rex Organization, founded in the 19th century, rolls every Fat Tuesday, with the role of Rex, King of Carnival, filled each year by a different local dignitary. The Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, founded by Black laborers in the early 1900s, also rolls on Tuesday.

Newer “super krewes” started parading in the late 20th century. The best known is Bacchus, which taps a nationally known celebrity as king each year. (This year, it’s actor Kevin Dillon from the TV show “Entourage.”) Bacchus, Endymion, Orpheus and Muses all parade during Carnival’s final days, employing stateof-the-art lighting effects on floats, many of which have local and national celebrities aboard.

Some of the parade krewes have been around since the 1800s. Some are secretive and still hard to join—while others stopped parading in the 1990s to avoid signing a non-discrimination affidavit.

WHAT ABOUT CRIME AND CROWD CONTROL?

Large Mardi Gras crowds cause some to worry about a rise in crime in New Orleans— which, like other cities, saw its crime rate rise and police ranks shrink during

the COVID-19 pandemic.

The New Orleans Police Department for several years has had a diminished force of about 900 officers. For the holiday, they will be joined by more than 100 state troopers, 170 Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Department deputies and more than 200 deputies from other Louisiana jurisdictions.

So far, no major problems have been reported.