Le Krewe D'Etat Parade

What can one say about a great parade and happy onlookers. Last night was amazing.They throw gifts from the floats. Helicopters, Police procession, 1st Responders, people everywhere as they pass on St Charles St. in the garden district. Excitement level high. Children getting goodies.So much fun, lights, food, and music. Bourbon St is for the loud drinkers, this is family safe. And just as good.

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.This parade is a bit on the dark side, and have a kind of dark humor. My favorite throw from them was a plastic bone that lights up. Pretty darn funny in my opinion. I loved the floats that parody what is going on in politics, New Orleans, sports, and just generally make fun of everything and everyone.A bit of history about this parade from their own website is as follows. The August members of Le Krewe d'Etat heed only edicts from their Dictator, whose identity is never revealed, and claim the streets of New Orleans annually and present a parade without peer on the Friday before Mardi Gras, or "Vendredi Gras" as it is now known. Le Krewe d'Etat emerged in 1996 as the preeminent krewe and now boasts numerous floats with many riders. It's floats adhere to a traditional style of design that impart Le Krewe d'Etat's satirical theme, which has been voted "Best of Carnival" by critics. Le Krewe d'Etat has opened the door for other krewes showing their most sincere form of flattery by trying in vain to imitate what comes naturally to this unique group of Mardi Gras revelers. The only gender neutral restrooms here are the port-a-johns set out by the city.

Le parade for the skull and bones set. Lots of satire, lots of skeleton jesters and slightly horror-inspired (but more on the humorous side) imagery. Theme had to do with local and national political and celebrity "scandals." Lots of great plays on words and the art on the floats was hilarious. I don't know much about Kim Kardashian, but that float with her and the NBA Players was a riot. Favorite walkers: The Skeleton Crew! Genius!!!It's a loooong parade with a fair amount of stopping. I think it lasted roughly a little over 2 hours.Yes, they are generous with their throws, but holy hell is the Friday night crowd brutal (and I hear the beginning of the route is nothing compared to the St. Charles crowd). Lots of killer stuff for kids (blinky neon gel gargoyles and skeleton jesters, plush toys). I just got a couple cups and later found a gel necklace that I'll be sending off to a kid who will appreciate it.Friday night parades are fun and the best thing to do is just sit back and enjoy it. My porch!! It's a bead explosion!!

Krewe D'Etat is a great satirical parade that maintains a slightly macabre sense of humor. Love the blinky gargoyles and this years seizure inducing blinking rings were fun. I wanted each float to stop in front of me so I could read/analyze all the stuff they were lampooning.Good times.

Flashing Gargoyles are always awesome. The skulls didn't disappoint, either. Another very generous crewe.Catch of the night: flashing gargoyles

D'Etat is one of my favorite Mardi Gras parades. It's kind of like if Krewe Du Vieux had a huge budget and skeletons instead of dicks. They are all about the satire. They have the wittiest floats in all of Mardi Gras, hands down. My favorite float of the 2012 season was "Debbie does Damascus" which was making light of Osama Bin Laden's porn collection and included one dvd cover titled "Deep Goat". That's high quality entertainment. They also have some of the best throws. Lots of bone and skull themed throws, many of which blink. They also pass out a poster of all of the floats but sadly I didn't get one this year. Also note: they don't have a king, they have a dictator.

D'Etat is fabulous, if you like satire. Plus, they get all of the "good bands" and neat other groups within the parade, like the Budweiser Clydesdales, the Skeleton Crew, etc.Even if you try, you can't possibly examine each float enough to catch every hilarious thing they are satirizing. Not a local? You may not understand 3/4 of it, but it's still humorous. Also, lots of good throws, so it's good for the kids even though they won't get the satire at all.

One of my favorite parades during Mardi Gras. I love the satirical floats, the skeleton themes, and the great throws. Rolls the Friday night before Mardi Gras.

Today is a little day at LOC we like to call Freaky Freaking-Out Day. We are literally shaking in our rain boots due to the fact that we couldn't be more excited that we're six hours away from embarking on a celebration that won't end until Wednesday morning. Seriously. Freaking-Out. But right now isn't about us. It's about you.It's parade time.So, you've got your purple, green and gold on. You've got the ice chest packed. You've already picked up the Popeye's family pack. Now comes the biggest decision of all: Which parade should I go see?While all the parades are worth a watch, not all krewes were created equal. The not so humble opinions of our Carnival vets' mixed in with the fresh-eyed opinions of our newer New Orleanians has resulted in a list of the 10 best parades that'll roll in the next six days. Take notice that all these parades roll through uptown (although they all start, end and wind through the city on their own routes). Therefore, if you don't plan on tracking each parade individually, plan on setting up shop on St. Charles between Louisiana and Napoleon to catch them all. (Due to space limitations, Yelp wouldn't let us post the all 10 descriptions of our top 10 so only the article + 1 description of each top ten parade is posted under its respective review page. Also we know we have a 1-10 ranking system, but we're giving them all 5 stars. Because anything Mardi Gras related receives 5 stars, regardless.) 10) Proteus - (Monday, 5:15pm)9) Mid-City - (Sunday, 11:45am) 8) Rex - (Tuesday, 10:00am) 7) Toth - (Sunday, 12:00pm) 6) d'Etat - (Friday 6:30pm) A Krewe with a sense of humor, they always have a hilarious theme. It's kept a secret up until the day of the parade, so you gotta be there to find out this year's 'targets' of their satire. The post-Katrina and post BP oil spill processions hit a little too close to home for some, but they we're likely the funniest to date. Catch a "D'Etat Gazette" a keepsake bulletin that includes drawings and descriptions of the floats. Useful if you're a newbie to city and you need research the references made about people that have screwed over New Orleans past and present. 5) Orpheus (Monday, 6pm) 4) Tucks (Sunday, 12pm) 3) Zulu (Tuesday, 8am) 2) Bacchus (Sunday, 5:15, Uptown)1) Endymion (Saturday, 4:15pm)"Laissez les bon temps rouler" - The Freaky Freaking LOCers

Hail to the Dictator!! Le Krew D'Etat is also one of my favorite parades. It opens for Morpheus, but frankly, D'Etat steals the night for me. You can even go home after D'Etat (I saw some people do just that!). Great satirical floats, awesome throws, and SKULLS! They are really generous with their throws and they make everyone go crazy trying to get blinking light-up fun (I got many, thank you!). Great Mardi Gras quality! I believe in the dictology!