DeLand goes to the dogs — Mardi Gras on MainStreet Feb. 7

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Feb 2, 2009 - 8:53:00am

The brightly colored beads will fly 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, when the 11th annual Mardi Gras on MainStreet, presented by the Krewe of Amalee, takes over Downtown DeLand.

This year’s theme is “Sun, Sand & Salty Dogs.”

The Mardi Gras celebration is one of the big Downtown events of the year, bringing some 20,000 people to the streets to watch or participate in the Krewe of Barkalee Dog Masquerade Parade, which, at 11 a.m., will make its way from the Cultural Arts Center at 600 N. Woodland Blvd., south to Howry Avenue.

Dogs creatively duded-out in Mardi Gras costumes are a crowd favorite. At 9:30 a.m., judges will set up at the intersection of Woodland Boulevard and University Avenue to award top canine-costume awards. Dog-registration will be available the day of the parade for $15.

People, decked out in celebration finery, are a close second, whether dressed in authentic New Orleans Mardi Gras threads as they ride floats down Woodland Boulevard, or stand alongside the Boulevard in kitschy homemade costumes, cheering the floats that go by.

“Indiana Avenue will be transformed into Bourbon Street for the day, as live music flows through the Mardi Gras-themed food and vendor area,” publicity spokeswoman Megan Gunby stated.

Don’t forget to bring the children. Along with enjoying the sight of the pooches, kids can play in bounce houses, get their faces painted, or exercise their creativity in crafts.

Admission is free. Proceeds from Mardi Gras on MainStreet will benefit the hospice BeginAgain Children’s Grief Center and the West Volusia Humane Society.

For more information about the event, visit online at /www.dogparadedeland.com. Call Karen Acree at (386) 736-1387 about floats and parade entries. Call Cathy Shuman at (386) 985-4247 about dog entries.

Mardi Gras, which means Fat Tuesday in French, is the last day before the season of Lent begins, always on a Wednesday. Lent is a season of fasting in many Christian traditions.

Through time, Mardi Gras expanded to a celebration lasting several weeks before Lent.

New Orleans perfected Mardi Gras celebrations, with parades, pageantry, food and drink. According to Mardi Gras Digest at http://www.mardigrasdigest.com, the first big New Orleans celebration was around 1857, when the Krewe of Comus, the oldest of the modern-era organizations, started a parade in New Orleans.

Mardi Gras is a legal holiday in Louisiana.

It’s a time to celebrate life, and use up foods that will be forsaken during Lenten fasting.

The Krewe of Amalee is ready to help you with that celebration.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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