Clarendon’s annual Mardi Gras parade marched up Wilson Boulevard last night, to the delight of hundreds of paradegoers.
Among the those marching in this year’s parade were the Ballou High School Band, Washington Nationals mascot Screech, the D.C. Rollergirls, and the all-women, Afro-Brazilian/samba-reggae percussion band Batala Washington. Local businesses, churches, nonprofits and political parties also took part.
Photos by Erin Schwartz Sutherland
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Thanks for the great pictures ArlNOW! It was nice to have this taste of NOLA here in ARL.
I appreciate ARLNOW correctly referring to this as the Clarendon Mardi Gras. It was certainly not Arlington’s.
Good pics! Great night!
Did any ladies “earn” there beads?
“Their” beads. Stay classy.
Overlook the typo. Let’s focus on the question and assumed photo evidence at hand.
The bead givers were focusing on children, so…grow up.
How do you think the children came about? Grow down.
I concur with R0bespierre. And it’s not unreasonable to suggest a commenter stay on topic instead of playing grammar police.
I assumed BS meant ‘dem there beads.
wonder why no band from one of the Arlington schools was there.
I’ve never seen an Arlington band in an Arlington parade. It’s weird.
We called all the high schools, to invite them, but evidently our parade comes at a bad time for the schools. There are band tournaments they participate in.
Matt
Yea cause we want to be N.O. – ever been there?
Yes…and I love it. You?
Yea – it’s fun to party in and eat, but it’s a hole to live in, with crime and corruption second to none.
Don’t forget the Jazz music, that’s also a great thing about NO.
So by your way of thinking we can’t eat Jambalaya, listen to Jazz or have fun parades because then we would “be N.O.” ?
Oh my. Dat drag queen from Freddie’s was HOT. I know where happy hour is tonite. Time for my ashes…
Hahaha! Someone from the LBGT community should fabric image 18 into a postcard and send it to Fred Phelps, glitter-bombs optional. It’s fun to prod and cajole basketcases (hence the appeal of these boards) inducing various levels of butthurt. Maybe the postcard will induce him to pay Arlington a visit and we can really skewer him.
yawn, hu, what up? where did all these beads come from that are splayed across the pillow on my bed. huh? what.?
a good time had by all.
For the randomness factor alone, the highlight of the parade had to be Trader Joe’s throwing boxes of stuffing mix into the crowd.
This year’s parade was the biggest and best yet. Thanks to all the participants and to the organizers.
John Fontain, why not take to insulting the parade goers for wearing their “costumes” which provide no functional value. Or do you only ridicule people who wear *functional* “costumes,” like in this thread?
http://www.arlnow.com/2011/12/27/study-reveals-habits-motivations-of-local-bicyclists/#comment-109724
Ya gotta love the saved up dig.
Of course, he deserves it, and more for the completely inane comments about what other people wear while biking.
“WTF…stuffing?! Where the hell are my beads?!” That is random yet
similarly awesome.
@SomeGuy – even the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s buried the hatchet.
Non sequitur. Try again.
Are there any other picture albums online? I saw the one on the Patch’s website….was hoping someone got a picture of our puppy walking in the parade
The folks on the Whitlow’s float, among others, needed to be told not to throw gently underhand, not CHUCK beads at people’s (including kids’) faces.
Considering the amount of people mobbing the floats on the street it’s no surprise some people got hit in the face. I stood back on the curb and didn’t encounter this problem, but had the opportunity to catch beads that were actually thrown instead of just handed out. Hopefully next year the police can work on keeping the crowds moved back so they don’t get hit….luckily it was only by beads.
Perhaps next year parade organizers will have floats dedicated to nonsensical curmudgeons who can’t make up their minds how to allocate beads at all.
The organizer (Clarendon Alliance) don’t design the floats, but I love the idea of an Arlington Curmudgeon Float ! It could be plastered with all sorts of curmudgeon cliches. How big would it have to be though?
Based on the posters on arlnow, a few blocks long.
FTW!
Fun times had by all. But please, try to keep spectators on the sidewalks as much as possible! I was driving in the parade and there were a couple of times where I had to stop until space was made, or my car barely made it through the crowd. Somebody is going to get hit sooner or later. My riders said the band behind us was being totally mobbed.
Also, apologies for my car’s minor overheating issue – I definitely need to get a radiator shroud fabbed up. Is there any reliable place in Arlington that works on older cars?
Auto Stop on Four Mile Run.
And yeah, *cough cough cough* thanks
soooo fun! looking forward to next years!
Can someone please tell me who the people in the big scary masks with what appeared to be a yeti wearing a spider are? They were amazing. and kind of terrifying. i want to see that again.
Bolivian group. I don’t know the name.
Would love to find out who they were – their costumes were awesome
They were. I went to Whole Foods and there were employees out of the sidewalk dancing away to the beat.
Save some green beads for me. I need them for St Patrick’s Day.
How is it that the band from D.C.-based Ballou High marched in the parade while no bands from the Arlington high schools [Wakefield, Washington-Lee, Yorktown, O'Connell] were there??? There should have been at least ONE Arlington high school band there.
I’ve been around for this parade since it’s inception and I’ve been told that the organizer (Clarendon Alliance) has reached out numerous times to the different high schools in Arlington but they’ve never been interested in participating because they have marching bands in the fall and concert bands in the spring.
This is true. What I wonder is if the Arlington schools are looking at it as having to be some big production. They wouldn’t even need to have the marching band, just get the Jazz band or any assemblage of anybody, stuck them in a decorated pickup and have fun. Ballou is nice because they are pretty much a professional-class parade band – just throw them onto the street and they seem to know what to do.
No band, but APS’s Escuela Key School was there this year in celebration of their 25th year of Spanish immersion. Key’s principals, Dr. Myers & Sra. Fernandez, were in a convertible with many teachers following in a truck, and many students and alumni marching behind.
So, where’s the photo of Countdown To Yuri’s Night float? (the one with the dancing robot?)