Canailles to take Mardi Gras to the streets

This Mardi Gras, Lafayette is welcoming a new sustainable walking parade, Krewe de Canailles. The parade has a group of young, creative individuals behind it ready to bring something fresh to our city’s Mardi Gras scene.

On Feb. 9, the inaugural walking parade will start at 6:30 p.m. under the Downtown Lafayette archway sign, travel down Jefferson Street and wind through Freetown, ending at Warehouse 535 with an after party.

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Board member Paul Kieu says the concept came from a discussion regarding a new Mardi Gras parade following the 2017 season.

“We noticed that crowds were generally disengaged, apathetic, and separated from the action,” he says. “So we discussed a Mardi Gras walking parade in the streets in the fashion of the popular walking parades in New Orleans.”

He says they quickly realized that there were other people in the community who felt the same exact way but just needed someone else to team up with.

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“It was a few of us who just had an idea along the lines of, ‘it'd be fun if we could do this’.”

The board is composed of Julie Bordelon, Hunter Hebert, Rodney Hess, Blaze Petersen, Leah Graeff, and Kieu.

In July, the group pitched the idea during CivicSide’s 24 Hour Citizen Project, a civic-focused speed dating event similar to the TV show, Shark Tank, that connects projects to investors. Their pitch was one of 10 projects selected for funding and they were awarded $5,000 seed money to hit the ground walking.

Since then, they have been working on securing nonprofit 501c3 status and finalizing all the details for the big day.

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“We have a lot of artists, marketing, legal professionals, etc. helping us move this thing along,” says Kieu.

Krewe de Canailles is made up of several sub-crewes and any group of people can come together to form their krewe. If you are interested in participating in the parade, you can sign up at krewedecanailles.com. However, individuals can participate, as well, and march with other like-minded people.

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Participants are encouraged to build their man-powered float inspired by Acadian icons such as Wayne Toups, and include eco-friendly throws. Dance krewes, marching bands and all other types of sub-krewes are welcome, as long as they aren’t fueled by an engine, this is directly in line with one of their value goal of sustainability.

All Krewe members can get in to the after party for free at Warehouse 535. The after-party will have live music by Lost Bayou Ramblers and New Natives Brass Band.

Neighbors, friends, and families are welcome to watch the parade and experience a Mardi Gras parade on a more intimate level.

To sign up or find route details, visit krewedecanailles.com.