Mardi Gras season is in full swing and parades are taking place throughout Louisiana and southern Mississippi, including Picayune. Saturday, I attended Picayune’s Krewe of the Pearl parade. It was the first time I attended a Mardi Gras parade because they aren’t held in Georgia. During my time at the parade, it was nice to see people of all ages enjoying themselves and having a good time.

People could be seen throwing stuffed animals and beads before everyone joined the crowd at Crosby Commons for the post-parade concert. In spite of the cloudy weather, everyone seemed to have a good time.

The more people I interact with in Picayune, the more I learn how big Mardi Gras is in this region of the country. Since I don’t know a lot about Mardi Gras, I decided to do some research in order to become more acquainted with the history of the celebration.

During my research, I learned about king cake. It wasn’t until about a couple of days ago when I had my first taste of it. Now that I’ve tried it, I can say it was quite delicious. While in the process of eating it, I was alerted to the fact that I should enjoy cautiously since there is a baby inside the cake. I was also told that whoever gets the baby in their piece, has to buy the next one.

According to southernliving.com, it is believed that the king cake tradition was brought to New Orleans in the late 1800’s, and according to mardigrasneworleans.com, I learned that Mardi Gras traditions in New Orleans can be traced back as far as the 1740’s.

Now that I’ve had a Mardi Gras experience in Picayune the last couple of days, this is definitely an event I will be sharing with my friends and family.