Family Gras

I am only giving four stars because I have not exactly been on the grounds of Family Gras. But you can hear the music from my house, which is amazing. There are a variety of booths with food and goodies for sale. This year it was setup on the neutral ground of Veterans between Lakeside Mall and Whole Foods, which is where most of the stands are for the parades. I think the stands are separate from the event and I am unsure how one gets tickets for them. Great spot, and I am glad the music is so loud you can hear it down the street.

I grew up in Texas, and I never got a chance to come to NOLA for Mardi Gras. Finally this year it happened, and Family Gras made my introduction to the celebration well worth the wait. It was a two-day celebration with music, food, and a parade. Can't wait to do it again! One of the coolest times i've ever had.

Why do I love Family Gras? Well I love the fact that the main focus of Family Gras is on the concerts and the parades. Where else in the world can you listen to FREE concerts while enjoying a Mardi Gras parade? Only in Metairie I say. I go to Family Gras every year and it's one of my favorite times of the Mardi Gras season. Since Family Gras started I've seen the Zac Brown Band, Little Big Town, Gavin De Graw, Natasha Beddingfield, We the Kings, Taylor Swift, Hot Chelle Rae, and some local singers (Amanda Shaw and Cowboy Mouth).This concert festival is very family friendly as the name suggests. They usually have a kids area where they can do arts and crafts plus the kids love the parades. There are also food vendors to satisfy those cravings we all get when we are out and about. This is just a wonderful wonderful festival that caters to the whole family. Located on the huge median across the street from Lakeside Mall, Family Gras brings to focus what I consider some of the very best things about our city....MUSIC, MARDI GRAS, and FAMILY.

Did you say "free concert with Cindy Lauper"? Ummmm, yeah! Now, that was a no-brainer. Girls just want to have fun, right? Well, families want to have fun, too! That was exactly what this event was designed for. Good ole' family fun to celebrate Mardi Gras. We got wind of Family Gras last week, when we came for some events in NOLA and stayed at the Homewood Suites (Metairie). At the check-in counter were mini (card size) brochures on Family Gras. The musical line-up for a free concert was awe-some! My family and I made arrangements to come back to the area for the Family Gras concert. Our hotel was walking distance to the outdoor concert venue. I mean, really convenient. It was perfect. So we arrived a few hours before Cindy Lauper was scheduled to make a stage appearance. Thanks to the unpredictable weather in Louisiana, we didn't really know to take rain seriously. It was serious that day. A couple acts got canceled, but we were still hopeful for Cindy to come on. The stage crew/management did not make a decision until 45 minutes before her scheduled appearance time. The show was ready to go on. Before the show started, a very special guest, US Representative Steve Scalise (one of the injured lawmakers in the shooting last year in Alexandria, VA). So that was really cool of him to help kick-off the activities. Yayyy!! We got up pretty close because there were so many people that did decided to leave and not wait out the rain. So, our spots were primo! Cindy came on and gave a thrilling performance and was rockin'! My family enjoyed every second of what we were given before the rain started to get bad again. Thankfully, we at least got an hour of Cindy's top hits that many of us were singing to (including my 8-year-old daughter). It was a great show! I wish I could have had the chance to enjoy more of Family Gras: food vendors, kids' stuff and retail vendors. Looked like a ton of fun! Hope to be back next year!

This was way cool! Way cool! Especially because I got to see a music legend, Cyndi Lauper, perform for about an hour (cut short due to rain) for no cost at a very close range. My family stayed down the street at the Homewood Suite located at 2730 Severn Ave, New Orleans, where we were within easy walking distance of Whole Foods and the Family Gras event. The most uncomfortable element of the whole experience was the rain which caused other performers to cancel, but that's okay we were there for only Cyndi Lauper.

Ok, I will totally own this that I am not the hugest fan of Metry but Family Gras kicks butt! Keep in mind that I am trying to be more fair in my reviews and not as nice as usual bc I don't appreciate being accused of being a shill by some non-Elite people. Look, it's not my fault that I'm a nice person and treat people with kindness and actually ASK my server their name and introduce myself to get better service. Heck, I know I'm high maintenance so like my Dad said I'll attract more bees with honey so I try to be nice and treat people with respect.Anyway, end rant. Getting back to Family Gras, it's a really fun event! I went with one of my best friends and his niece. We parked at Lakeside Mall and returned something for a friend and used the food court restroom (no port o lets for us!). Then we ambled down to the event where there were tons of food booths. The little one wanted chicken fingers so we got those quickly bc she was hungry. Once we found a patch of grass to sit, my friend went foraging for our food! He came back with a delicious crab cake with shrimp and cream sauce over dirty rice. It was the right amount of spice and was delicious! Now keep in mind this is like any festival where they serve you small portions for a hefty price. So if you want to keep your expenses down then I suggest eating before you come or eating in the Lakeside Food Court etc. We were contemplating Phil's Grill but we wanted to explore the festival food as well.After satiating our initial hunger, we walked across the street to Whole Foods for desserts the little one had a cherry cupcake which she wasn't fond of bc she didn't realize cherries would be in the icing and cupcake but it tasted fine to me. My friend and I shared a turtle dessert which was delicious! It had a fudge like filling in the middle and had nuts and caramel on the top. Keep in mind there is a huge police presence at this event so you feel really safe. Plus the police were stopping traffic on Veterans and helping people cross the street which is nice. Sometimes it feels like you're playing Frogger every time you try to cross a NOLA street! HeheThanks to Yelper Jessica who hooked us up with VIP passes!! Woohoo!! We got to listen to Becky G and The Beach Boys front and center! It was nice not being so crowded. Speaking of crowded there was only one negative experience where I felt claustrophobic where I was smushed in the crowd trying to get to VIP and someone shoved the woman behind me and consequently shoved me. The poor lady apologized to me afterwards and I told her I was fine but it was terrible that they shoved her too. But hey, with some a large crowd this is pretty tame. I almost forgot to mention that it's a great deal to get one of the tumbler cups for $12 at the Daiquiri shop bc they are decorated either with a Mardi Grad theme or Saints colors. Plus the refills are only $6! And the red beans and rice with sausage was delicious as well! The best part is we even got to catch The parade across the street on Severn and Veterans!Happy Family Gras y'all!

Was wonderful. I can't wait to make this an annual event for our Mardi Gras celebration.