I enjoyed one of America’s most acclaimed festivals over the weekend. Mardi Gras sets its own standard as a festival. The amount of community participation and tourists was impressive.
Staying with some friends in Metairie which is an old New Orleans’ neighborhood, I had a much different experience than my friends staying downtown in a hotel. While they were next to Bourbon Street sulking in the sketchy crowds, I enjoyed a beautiful part of town. But the side of New Orleans I enjoyed was much different.
Watching parades that stretched two miles long in Uptown was awesome. Nice crowds and pretty Southern homes lined the parade route as ragtime Jazz blared from the passing floats. The Uptown bars catered to the college students instead of the middle-aged burnouts that are found on Bourbon. So why does the commercial image of Mardi Gras portray Bourbon Street and the French Quarter as the face of the festival?
It is a one of kind place I will admit. Nudity and blackout drunks are tolerated by the police force and shattered whiskey bottles fill the street’s gutters. But is this really the American ideal of a great time? People get just as drunk at the bars and house-parties of Uptown as they do in the French Quarter, but the American media loves to publicize the gross low-life alternative of Mardi Gras.
I don’t know who to blame for this whether it be the general public or the media. Regardless, I found Mardi Gras and the city of New Orleans a city that has a historic culture which is cherished and celebrated every year by its residents and guests which is something to commend in a country that has grown to ignore much of its heritage and traditions.
Staying with some friends in Metairie which is an old New Orleans’ neighborhood, I had a much different experience than my friends staying downtown in a hotel. While they were next to Bourbon Street sulking in the sketchy crowds, I enjoyed a beautiful part of town. But the side of New Orleans I enjoyed was much different.
Watching parades that stretched two miles long in Uptown was awesome. Nice crowds and pretty Southern homes lined the parade route as ragtime Jazz blared from the passing floats. The Uptown bars catered to the college students instead of the middle-aged burnouts that are found on Bourbon. So why does the commercial image of Mardi Gras portray Bourbon Street and the French Quarter as the face of the festival?
It is a one of kind place I will admit. Nudity and blackout drunks are tolerated by the police force and shattered whiskey bottles fill the street’s gutters. But is this really the American ideal of a great time? People get just as drunk at the bars and house-parties of Uptown as they do in the French Quarter, but the American media loves to publicize the gross low-life alternative of Mardi Gras.
I don’t know who to blame for this whether it be the general public or the media. Regardless, I found Mardi Gras and the city of New Orleans a city that has a historic culture which is cherished and celebrated every year by its residents and guests which is something to commend in a country that has grown to ignore much of its heritage and traditions.
This post was great. Being from New Orleans, it gets really frustrating when everyone else only thinks of the city as this out of control naked party. When I decided to bring friends back with me from college to New Orleans for Mardi Gras I made it clear that I wanted to experience the real local Mardi Gras, not what makes it on the TV. But of course one night they pressured me into making it to bourbon. Of course it was a fun night, but it wasn't the Mardi Gras that I love. I love New Orleans because of its history and its spirit and how unique it is. It is so much more than a huge party.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have experienced a more real Mardi Gras. Although I still had a lot of fun while I was down there, I did get the vibe of just a huge party. Next year when I go down I hope to be able to go to an area like Metarie and see what true Mardi Gras is like. When I visited New Orleans, however, I was amazed with how much history and beauty is there. I had no idea, and it was truly a pleasant surprise.
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