Behind the Scenes of a Mardi Gras Float

Mardi Gras World in the city of New Orleans offers unique, behind-the-scenes tours of its floats. Every float here is worked on year-round for the festival known as the Greatest Free Show on Earth: Mardi Gras. And there is no way to separate these spectacular floats from the fun of Mardi Gras parades!

French for “Fat Tuesday,” Mardi Gras was begun in New Orleans in the 1700s and takes place before Lent. Because Lent is a religious time of fasting, people celebrate Mardi Gras to prepare to give up rich foods. What better way to celebrate parades, which kick off two weeks before and up until Mardi Gras day, than with eye-catching floats? Each year, anywhere from 14 to 40 floats make their way down St. Charles Avenue, the most popular route, and throughout New Orleans and its suburbs.

Months before the festival, floats are brought to life at Blaine Kern Studios of Mardi Gras World, established in 1947. First, a theme is brainstormed by the krewe of people who pay for the float. The krewe also ride the float in parades, tossing gifts such as throws or beads, cups, stuffed animals, and doubloons to bystanders. Themes for floats range from classics we know and love like The Jungle Book to a newly invented cast of characters.

The moment you enter the prop shop at Mardi Gras World, you witness how floats are transformed into striking additions to parades. Each float is created by artisans like designers, painters, and sculptors. The designer presents a drawing to be approved by the krewe, and each prop (or part) of the design is sculpted in clay and then drawn on Styrofoam. The float for the three jesters of Rex, king of Mardi Gras, features props of heads with hats of purple, green, and gold, the colors of the festival.

Props can be three feet thick and up to 10 feet tall, and are cut from Styrofoam, sanded, and sculpted with a knife, rasp, and a hot knife. The hot, electric knife is used to melt and carve a prop’s features such as the ears, eye sockets, or cheekbones of a character. The prop is then covered with papier-mâché of brown paper and primed (or painted) to seal it with white latex paint. Details are added to give each float its magical sparkle of life. Props for a nature theme might be carved and painted to trick the eye with the appearance of real leaves, feathers, or fur.

When all the props are finished, they get stapled, screwed, and wired onto the float’s wooden frame. Light props like flowers are stapled on, and heavy props like a dragon’s head are screwed onto the frame, which gets towed by a tractor through parades. Each float is built for only one year’s festival and will be recycled after Mardi Gras. Who knows how a prop might be recreated for the following festival? A dolphin in an undersea float might become next year’s Martian for a float with an outer space theme.

After touring the prop shop, you enter the float den to be greeted by props that are stored for posterity like Dorothy from Oz. Here, you can make a mask, another art form along with dance and music that is vital to the festival, in a hands-on workshop. Then wrap up your tour with a glimpse of dazzling, completed floats that will stand out in a crowd — a Mardi Gras crowd that is sure to jam-pack the streets of New Orleans!