Fat Tuesday!

Today is Fat Tuesday, the high point of Mardi Gras, the Carnival celebration leading up to lent. It is celebrated all over the world, but especially in New Orleans, Venice, and Rio. Here in Denver, not so much. In fact, perusing the entertainment section of the Denver Post, I could find only one celebration taking place, at the Up In Arms Brewery on Tennyson Street in the northwest side Berkley neighborhood, seen in the photograph on the left.

There was also a mention of this celebration on the local Channel 7 news, and so I decided to head up there this past Saturday afternoon to check it out. A brass band was to start playing at 3:00, and a short parade was to begin at 4:00, and so I timed my arrival to catch both. The parade was led by the brass band. It started in the alley behind the brewery, went through the crowd on the patio, and headed up the block, as seen in the photograph on the right.

I have never been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, or anywhere else for that matter, but I hear it can be pretty rowdy. No worries about that here, as you can see from the photograph on the left. Behind the brass band came the "floats," which were actually little red wagons with various kinds of oversized dolls in them. And after that followed a large number of brewery patrons, many walking with their kids and dogs. A pleasant day for everyone there. My only complaint was that in my haste to take photographs, I never got to sample the beer at Up In Arms. Bummer.