Gallier Small & the Ping Pong Ball 2013
The after party is the culmination of a year's planning and anticipation. Gallier Small is the 'tit Rəx review of all the floats, a moment to shine for each and every one. And after all that's over, we party at our very own 'Ping Pong Ball' Click here to view images from this year's review and afterparty.
The 2013 Parade – "The Bare Minimum"
This year saw a major shift – nothing techtonic, but even tiny tremors can be jarring. This was the first year on our St. Roch – Franklin route. In a sense we were merely keeping with our core ethos: keep it small. The original Bywater route was just too long to make any sense. And while we miss the people, the new route provided us with many new opportunites: St. Roch Firehouse (we salute you!), the neutral ground to line up on – the gathering point for pre-parade pics and first peeks at the floats, etc.
This was the year we 'went rogue'. Due to a scheduling conflict (and even though we love you uncle Joe Biden, you f@%&d us) the police were pulled away to cover Biden's presence in the city. Our escort was truly reduced to the bare minimun – none. What to do? We had to parade, you can't stop the show… so we just went and didn't look back. We DID have to look both ways though crossing St. Claude. And luckily while New Orleans drivers seldom stop for ANYTHING in their way, they DO stop for parades. Thank you for small favors!
2013 also gave birth to what some perceive as a 'rivalry' between 'tit Rǝx & Chewbacchus when it was discovered that we would be sharing (somewhat) overlapping routes and times on the same neighborhood streets. A little competition isn't a bad thing, and it's certainly nothing new to Mardi Gras krewes in New Orleans. Was it a sticky wicket? Yeah, but the leadership of our two krewes sat down and ironed it all out. In the end the combination of 'tit Rǝx and Chewbacchus added an entirely new chapter to the book of 'Downtown Parades' – the Marigny and Bywater will never be the same again!
