Many of you might not immediately recognize what’s going on in the photo above, but to New Orleanians, the meaning is obvious: it’s Carnival time.
Yes, folks, here we are on December 4, in the midst of the Chriskwaanzukkah festivities, two months and four days before Fat Tuesday, and the City of New Orleans has already set up the reviewing stands for Carnival parades. These particular stands are positioned in front of Gallier Hall, our erstwhile city hall and the site where the mayor toasts various parades on the St. Charles Avenue route. And I should point out that these weren’t just constructed today: they’ve been up for several weeks, I just kept forgetting my camera.
As someone who genuinely loves Carnival, I always get a geeky little frisson when the stands go up. It gives me something to look forward to–unlike, say, Christmas, which oftentimes seems such a chore.
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