Group wants to bring back Mardi Gras parade crowd costumes

HOUMA (AP) — The Krewe of Tradition is working to bring Mardi Gras costumes back into parade crowds with a four-hour costume-making workshop May 17 at the Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum in Houma.
“I grew up in Houma, and my mom would make us costumes for us to go watch the parade,” said founding member Andrea Dupree told The Courier. “My mom remembered in the 50s and 60s that everyone would get into costume. We thought that offering people an opportunity to learn easy things about making their own costumes would maybe encourage more people to try it out.”
Lance Brown, the krewe’s 2019 king, will lead the workshop. He says some materials and tools will be provided, but people should also bring their own materials and ideas. Brown says he’ll bring costumes he has made and talk a bit about history.
Children up to age 15 will be admitted free, but must be accompanied by an adult. Otherwise, admission is $5 per person. The workshop starts at 10 a.m.
Support from the Louisiana Folklore Society, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, the Louisiana Division of the Arts and the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism is helping to put on the workshop ahead of Mardi Gras, which this year will be celebrated on March 5.
The krewe does not have a full parade, but it does a small split parade on Mardi Gras, ending with a costume contest at Le Petit Theatre de Terrebonne.
“We’re trying to bring back the real hand-made, community sort of feeling back to Houma,” Dupree said.
—Information from: The Courier, www.houmatoday.com