Krewe of Bacchus

After all these years of living in New Orleans, I still love Mardi Gras. And now I know which parades and which locations are more fun.Bacchus is definitely at the top of my list. All floats are very colorful, throws are generous. You do have to beg for them though. You won't get anything if you are just standing there in a "smile and wave" fashion. Parade rolls through Uptown and stops in Downtown. Depending on what you are looking for, you can choose different locations. I prefer beginning of the route, since it is not so touristy. Lots of families/kids, so nobody will flash you in the face or try to kill you and your child for beads. This parade is definitely worth checking it out!

Please note: Do not expose yourself at this parade. There are families with small children around. Police are nearby and you will be arrested and charged. You will not earn any beads and you will possibly be a felon.Bacchus is definitely one of my favorite parades.Part of the mythology is that Bacchus is The God of Wine and Vegetation. Bacchus, in Greek mythology, was the god of wine and vegetation. He showed mortals how to cultivate grapevines and make wine.A bit of history about this parade from the website for this particular parade is as follows. The Krewe of Bacchus parade was founded in 1968 by a handful of New Orleans business leaders whose dream was to revitalize Carnival. However, the seeds of the Krewe of Bacchus were actually sown two decades before the present carnival organization was founded. The original Krewe of Bacchus was the brainchild of Owen Edward Brennan, Sr., a true visionary. Brennan, owner of the Absinthe House, a famous bar on Bourbon Street, and later founder of Brennan's Restaurant on Royal Street, was also the father of the first Captain of The Krewe of Bacchus, Owen "Pip" Brennan, Jr.The only gender neutral restrooms are the port-a-johns set out by the city. Nearby bars and restaurants may, or more likely not, have gender neutral restrooms.

Y'know I used to love Bacchus with the BacchaGator and the BacchaWhopper and the Kong family (all are annual floats). But this year the themed floats were LAME. I think Bacchus is showing the age of it's krewe. C'mon "Saluting our WWII Veterans" may be a fine & noble theme, but it doesn't lend itself to exciting floats. Yawn.Props for the Bacchus foam football that looks like grapes.

A parade after mine own wine-lovin' heart! I was able to catch this one last night at this year's official Joi B Mardi Gras viewing spot (around the Doubletree and Windsor Court). It was my first time at Bacchus. Shocking, I know, but last year I was spoiled by all the parades that went by my house and I didn't feel like venturing out after a parade-filled Sunday. But I have to say, Bacchus blows away all the morning/afternoon parades (which I didn't actually see this year. I realize I'm more of a night parade kinda person). This year's theme was the Seven Seas. Floats represented the islands, from Belize to New Zealand to Easter and most in between (what, no Rikers?!) I loved all the tiki-themed floats and of course the Bacchasaurus and Bacchagator are both majestic and hilarious. The krewe is very generous with throws, my favorite being a blinky rubber cluster of grapes. How could I not love all these wine-themed throws? I was in a big crowd, yet still managed to catch a ton of beads, doubloons and cups, unlike Friday night, when the crowd was thin and the throws were far and few between. The bands in this parade are also phenomenal! I think I had one of my best parade experiences to date last night at Bacchus. Definitely on my list with Krewe Du Vieux, Nyx and Muses on my not-to-be missed list.

I can't believe I haven't reviewed one of my fave Krewes for Mardi Gras.... DA BACCHUS!!! I have several friends that ride in this parade and I have been fortunate enough to attend the ball several times. Bacchus doesn't disappoint from Bacchagator, King Kong and Bacchasaurus to the grape footballs... all things Bacchus please me. The floats are stunning, the themes are great, and they usually have the most amazing "King" choices of all the parades... Hello Will Ferrel!The history of Bacchus:The Krewe of Bacchus parade was founded in 1968 by a handful of New Orleans business leaders whose dream was to revitalize Carnival. However, the seeds of the Krewe of Bacchus were actually sown two decades before the present carnival organization was founded. The original Krewe of Bacchus was the brainchild of Owen Edward Brennan, Sr., a true visionary. Brennan, owner of the Absinthe House, a famous bar on Bourbon Street, and later founder of Brennan's Restaurant on Royal Street, was also the father of the first Captain of The Krewe of Bacchus, Owen "Pip" Brennan, Jr.In the late 1940's, Brennan realized that a large segment of his clientele was seasonally unhappy-namely tourists to the Mardi Gras. At that time, Carnival balls at Mardi Gras were predominately closed to anyone outside of New Orleans' society circles. So, In 1949, Brennan decided to spend an enormous amount of money, buck the entrenched New Orleans Society, and revolutionize the Mardi Gras. He did so by creating a brand new Krewe, called the Krewe of Bacchus, wide open to tourists.Brennan staged two Bacchus Carnival balls, one in 1949 and the other in 1950 before his death in 1955. Regrettably, he did not live to see his idea develop into a new and lasting form.Fast forward to 1968. For years, Carnival in New Orleans had been losing its luster slowly but surely. There was a lot of talk around town about what should be done to give a spark to the celebration.Early in 1968, Owen "Pip" Brennan, Jr., son of the late Brennan, held a meeting at Brennan's Restaurant to address this problem. What emerged was a rebirth of the vision his father conceived almost 20 years earlier: The Krewe of Bacchus.The Krewe of Bacchus had left a lasting mark on the City of New Orleans and had proven to be the boost that the Carnival season so desperately needed.Now, with more than 1,350 members and 33 animated super-floats, the Krewe of Bacchus is revered as one of the most spectacular Krewes in Carnival history.Pip Brennan still serves as Captain of The Krewe of Bacchus; overseeing each detail with great pride and meticulous perfection. He is now joined by his three sons, Owen Brennan, III, Clark Brennan, and Blake Brennan, all of whom serve on the Krewe's Board of Directors. Owen, III also serves as the Krewe's Executive Director. Like their grandfather and father, this third generation of the Brennan family shares the same love of Mardi Gras and New Orleans.

My first super krewe parade and I had no idea what I was in store for nor did I know what to expect. I have been to many parades, but this has by far been my favorite! I am not a huge fan of crowds, nor am I a huge fan of long waits for mediocre entertainment. At first, my family and I were on the St. Charles side of the parade route, where many parade spectators had been waiting for hours. Earlier in the day we were on Tchoupitoulas & Lafayette Street, which was closer to the end of the parade route and noticed that the crowd hadn't built up there, so I considered that as a spot for later on. After being with the masses on St. Charles Street, we hardly caught a thing after 4 large floats passed by. Without any hesitation from my family, we moved over to the intersection of Tchoupitoulas & Lafayette Street (in front of Baracdia NOLA), where the crowd was a lot less and we were able to get a spot front & center. It was so much better and we were able to catch so much more! Bags, beads, trinkets, balls and toys & stuffed animals for my little one - OMG, we got it all! It was really cool to see everything so up close and be handed things right off these giant floats. We were all up in the middle of the action. I understand why people don't really want to wait in that spot all day because it was about 8:15 or 8:30pm until the first float showed up. 30 floats later, we got a ton of loot: 3 full bags that luckily we did not have to carry far to our nearby hotel room. In retrospect, I was glad we moved to the 2nd location. I thought this was going to be just an "okay" experience, but it turned into an unforgettable one and my family & I had the time of our lives! 3 cheers for the Krewe Of Bacchus! It was also cool to see actor, Jim Caviezel as king and actor, Anthony Mackie in the parade, too!

When we decided to take a cruise in February, a light bulb went off to pair it with Mardi Gras. We hit almost all the parades. We kicked off Mardi Gras before the cruise when it started and then when we got back it was like nonstop parades. This one was pretty fun. We had a great viewing location nearing the end of the route near Canal St. This is where the parade tracker comes in handy because it moves so slow getting along the route. Hugh Laurie was the Bacchus King this year. We had a great time and plenty of beads were flying. We got lucky that the weather was near 70 degrees and clear for most of the time we were there. I think everyone should do Mardi Gras at least once, I am not a drinking partying person, anymore, but this was still a fun experience. I had never imagined it to be as wild as it was, but that was part of the fun. Where else will you see people drinking beer with one hand and washing it down with a bottle of Jack in the other, while stepping over the passed out drunks face down in the beads.

This is more of a critique of the people that this parade draws, not the Krewe itself.I enjoyed Bacchus but it would not be the *one* parade I would recommend that people see if they could only catch one. First of all, if you're coming to nola for Mardi Gras, what are you doing going to ONE parade? I made it to 20 parades this year (my first year). Granted, I live here, but if you're going to spend all that $$$ traveling here, go to the parades and do it like the locals. Don't just go to the Quarter and act stupid. Sorry. Rant is over.I'm not sure if it's always like this at Bacchus, but I could not deal with the crowd. I was at the front on the neutral ground side for 10 minutes, and there were just too many people trying to drunkenly cross the street and pushing when people had no room to move, and within those 10 minutes, there was a woman who shouted, "they're fighting!" and wanted to move and there was also an incident where the cops had to get involved. Not sure what the details of that deal was, but the girl next to me told me that someone had smelled marijuana, and then we saw an angry girl tell the cops to shut the f**k up and be escorted to the sidewalk side and still continue to shout at the cops. I don't really know how she did not get arrested, but she didn't and went back to smiling in a little bit.I did not experience anything like that at any of the other 19 parades I went to. I don't know if this was just the timing of the parade or if Bacchus just draws a lot of clueless inebriated tourists who lack Mardi Gras etiquette.But I did enjoy seeing the signature floats I was told about and catching some of the cooler beads. And seeing Will Ferrell as Bacchus was fun as well. Just wish people would behave at least human... You can have a good time without being jerks.

I'm glad I saw the Krewe of Bacchus at least once. I don't plan on seeing it again because once was certainly enough. The crowd was a bit roudy, but that was expected, I don't believe it was cool that some cowardly cruel participants who of course wore masked on the floats found it amusing to forcefully throw beads and other schwag at parade goers...kind of disturbing. The noxious smell of the combination of body odor, barf, feces, urine and other disgusting waste molecules floating around made the experience extremely unpleasant at times. On a more positive note, the floats were really cool even though the outer elements were uncomfortable to deal with.

A must see if you ever go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Its a very long parade and you can expect to get 40 lbs of beads by the end of the parade... The best place to wait is toward the end of the parade for beads because they krewe is just trying to get rid of all of the beads by then...