Joshua Hazel and Christina G. were excited to participate in a Mardi Gras parade with other Cybertruck owners. The parade turned hostile with alcohol, beads, and insults hurled at the Cybertrucks.

— It’s carnival season in New Orleans with weeks of parades, all leading up to one day: Mardi Gras. Part of the parade appeal includes all the throws you can catch, like beads, from floats.

Saturday morning kicked off the 39th annual Youngsville Mardi Gras Parade. Parade goers dressed to impress, sporting a variety of vibrant and creative outfits in honor of the celebration.

“The waste is becoming a defining characteristic of this event,” said Brett Davis, a New Orleans native who grew up catching beads at Mardi Gras parades. He now heads a nonprofit that works to ...

Mardi Gras can make a lot of trash, adding up to millions of pounds each year. Now, some parades in New Orleans are cutting down on their environmental footprint by banning plastic beads.

Gulf State Park has the answer. They’re asking people to donate any unwanted beads, toys and throws collected from Mardi Gras parades this year so they can repurpose them.

Mardi Gras 2025: LIVE Parades, Beads & Festivities from New Orleans! Your live go-to guide for the live updates from New Orleans as the city celebrates Fat Tuesday.

Other throws, such as the popular Mardi Gras bead bags — which were already taxed — will now be charged tariffs as high as 102%, he estimated.

While some of the traditions are super famous, like king cake, beads, jazz and parades in New Orleans, there's a lot about Mardi Gras you may not know!

Its Very Being Is Tied to Religion “While best known for parties, costumes and beads, Mardi Gras has religious origins in the Catholic calendar as well as in pre-Christian pagan celebrations ...