Pups Party It Up for Mardi Gras

Mar 8th 2011

You're probably just beginning to enjoy Fat Tuesday, but a bunch of party animals already hit the streets of New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras early: Dogs dressed as everything from "South Park" characters to American Indian chiefs traipsed through the French Quarter as part of the annual Mystic Krewe of Barkus parade.


Started in 1993 as a canine ode to the city's legendary Krewe of Bacchus, proceeds from the event's registration fees and merchandise sales are donated to various animal welfare organizations. This year, four-legged revelers got to show off their festive (and, at times, feather-covered) costumes along the 15-block route -- and pawty at a doggie ball in Armstrong Park. Luckily, no out-of-control, bead-covered boozehounds crashed this shindig.