Knights of Babylon

On the Thursday night leading up to the great weekend of Mardi Gras, and right before the famed Muses parade, this is a great parade. Babylon was a major city of ancient Mesopotamia in the fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The city was built upon the Euphrates and divided in equal parts along its left and right banks, with steep embankments to contain the river's seasonal floods. A bit of history about the crew, from their website is as follows: The Knights of Babylon was founded in 1939 by a group of professional men who wanted to stage a first class parade for the public and a first class tableau ball for their ladies. Widely respected as one of the iconic New Orleans Carnival organizations, Babylon annually presents the first evening parade on the Thursday before Fat Tuesday.This is a colorful, bright and interactive parade, and one of my favorites. They were generous with their throws. It was a great time had by all. A new question is being asked of gender neutral restrooms. The only gender neutral restrooms are the port-a-potties provided by the city. I know of no other gender neutral restrooms in the area.

I love the old school floats & themes. The royalty was actually pulled by 6 mules last night and all of them seemed pretty happy, except for one of the lead ones. But his handler calmed him down with some pets. The wagon wheels definitely change the way the floats sway over the streets. While the theme was a bit obscure (it paid tribute to a long time member...well member's wife who was active in their design process for over 50 years), the floats were beautiful as always.The parade does zoom by superfast; these old guys don't play. They want to parade and get home, I guess. Not a ton of throws but enough to placate the crowds...more like the volume that I grew up with rather than the showers of stuff that come from some parades. We felt like there were fewer brass bands this year which is usually their staple so minus 1 star.

Awesome!I got so many throws from this parade I didn't know what to do with myself! Very generous and a great crew. I got some cool blinky beads and three cups. Total winner! Everyone who I went to the parade with came away happy.A great opening act for Muses!!Catch of the night: Blinking medallions

It was an ok parade overall. I didn't get much cause the men seemed like they were drunk and just drunk simply. The floats were coosl. A dunny float or few, but for the most part pretty ok. The floats went by fast even though they were late. It was just an ok parade. Nothing special

Dipping into Mardi Gras history is required to fully appreciate the beautiful floats the Knights of Babylon parade with. The old-style wagon floats (which have been upgraded to tractors instead of mules--mostly) jingle and jangle with every pothole; Babylon takes advantage of that by affixing lots of smaller pieces to swing and sparkle as the floats wobble. It's a lovely touch. In general, the floats looked like they were painted with rich watercolors bringing to mind the Belle Epoque and twinkling lights in old theaters. The art historian in me LOVED every second although the practical organizer in me pointed out that a dusk parade is not ideal to show off the beauty of these floats. Because Aliyah and I were not ready for the crush of the crowd, we actually stayed on the other side of St. Charles to watch. Sitting on top of Times-Picy boxes was just perfect to really take in each float without the hubbub lining the actual route. Would I do it again? Of course! But I'd also elbow my way into the crowd since this krewe is generous with their throws. Recommended beer: Yuengling Lager. An old favorite, done right all these years.

I had a lot of great fun at this parade! Granted I had to park quiet a distance from the parade route. I didn't mind the walk though. I will admit I didn't get that many throws from this parade but I wasn't angry. I ended up having to leave because one of my friends that rode with me to the parade complained that he was sick. Oh well didn't get to see it through but I still think it was worth it to go.

So many cups!! I think most of these ended up in the bead tree. However, like Marielle said, they were super generous with all of the throws. Nice floats, too.Definitely a good time for all!

Babylon is a great parade to bring the young ones and the less experienced parade goers. They have great riders (horse and floats), flambeaux, and overall great attitude in the parade. They usually have plenty of throws, including cups, blinky things, doubloons, etc. They are also very giving with their throws. This was the first Carnival parade my parents ever saw and they had a great time. It may not be as flashy as some of the bigger krewes, but a very cool parade overall. Highly recommended.

Babylon is usually a pretty good start to Thursday night parades. Usually a good amount of throws and enthusiastic riders. Usually a solid bet. Usually...