Krewe of Endymion

Happy 50^th Anniversary Endymion! This super krewe is one of a kind, and if your ever in town the Saturday before Mardi Gras it’s a must! This is an early afternoon parade, but honestly you have to go extremely early if you want a front row spot for you and your family. It’s so serious that some people camp out for a week or more just to claim their space for this parade. Others come the day of as early as 5am to claim a front row spot. Front row is not imperative if you want to catch good throws, but if you’re not up front you might want to invest in a ladder because I can almost guarantee everyone in front of you will be on a ladder. One thing Endymion is known for is the massive amounts of throws. I’m talking tons and tons of beads and trinkets thrown along the parade route. The floats you will see in Endymion are like no other parade! The Pontchartrain beach float for example is 9 sections long measuring 330 feet, and holds 260 riders. You better pay attention when this float passes because if not you will get hit with beads or trinkets, and the beads hurt when they whack you unexpectedly.
My favorite part of the parade are all the bands! Bands from colleges and high schools come from all over the country to play in this parade plus many local bands march for Endymion. The most notable local band being The St. Augustine Marching 100.
Overall Endymion is an amazing experience. Every year they are growing and improving the parade experience. I just want to thank all the behind the scenes workers that get these floats ready for parade day. You all do a wonderful job, and I can’t wait to see what the future brings for Endymion.

Really it’s 3.5 stars, but I had an awesome time this year so I’ll be generous and give them a 4.
Endymion always puts on a great show, and in my humble opinion, the best formal ball of any of the Krewes. There’s a separate page for the Endymion Extravaganza though, so I’m writing this review based solely on the parade and viewing experience.
The riders in Endymion are always generous and usually are cool about throwing to everyone, not just attractive girls and kids which is awesome considering it’s an all male Krewe. I got most if not all of their signature throws this year which was awesome and something I was definitely not expecting. I also loved the lighting/​special effects they use-I’d definitely recommend trying to catch the parade at night, that way you’ll be able to truly appreciate all the lighting and such, as well as the special light up throws.
The reason I’m not giving 5 stars is for 2 reasons: the route and the crowd. It’s one of 2 parades in Orleans Parish that does not travel the traditional Uptown route, the other being Zulu which does some kind of weird Central City route. I really really love watching the Uptown parades on Napoleon Avenue near the beginning because the atmosphere is great and the crowds are generally very easy going; it’s also less crowded in general there. Endymion does a Mid-​City route and it gets crowded. Which leads me to my next point: the crowds at Endymion can get aggressive. This year near the beginning of the route in Midcity, people started staking out their territory on Thursday. For a parade that rolls on Saturday. I consider myself a hardcore Mardi Gras person but that’s just ridiculous. I also feel like I get pushed/​shoved/​bumped into at this parade far more often than any others. Endymion doesn’t control their audience, but it still plays into the overall experience.

Family oriented, good natured fun. Who could ask for anything more?
This is one of my all time favorite parades and one of the best and most popular night parades during Mardi Gras.
The floats have amazing lighting effects, the throws are great and there are lots of them (throws and floats).

In Greek mythology, Endymion was variously a handsome Aeolian shepherd, hunter or king who was said to rule and live at Olympia in Elis, and he was also venerated and said to reside on Mount Litmus in Caria, on the west coast of Asia Minor.
This parade, the Saturday before Mardi Gras is by far one of the longest parades, in length of parade and in length of the route. It starts by Delgado Community College (several miles from the center of town, in the Mid-​City neighborhood. It has beautiful floats, awesome and plentiful floats, great bands and lively dance troupes. The riders of the floats all interact with the audience and are generally friendly.
You may ask then, why I am only giving two stars if they are so awesome. Because of the crowds. People mark their territory the week leading up to the parade and some times camp out marking their territory, of which they are very protective. Some of the crowd can be jerks. My first Mardi Gras after moving here and being chased away from several spots, I went home crying because someone threw a bottle at me, giving me a bloody nose. And it was pouring rain out. Now that I have been a couple of times in a group after that first experience, I have had better times, but I am still scarred from it. I am 5 foot tall on a good day. I am not in it to steal anything, most people over the age of 12 can see over me.
Any way. Be careful out there, people are not going to be nice sometimes. Parking can be extremely difficult, traffic will be horrible. And I still stand by the idea that people should be nice to each other. Also, I could not seem to check in to this parade this year, even though I was with a medium sized group, some of whom could check in.

As a rider for the last 14 years or so, I’m a bit biased. The last 2 years we have been blessed with near perfect weather. It seems that the crowd gets bigger every year, though that’s hard to fathom. The typical crowd is 20 deep or so the entire route. We’ve seen signs from parade goers from all over the world. There’s a great family atmosphere near the beginning (City Park, Orleans Ave, Carrollton Ave, and upper Canal Street, a great touristy atmosphere thereafter (downtown Canal Street and St Charles Ave). My recommendation for out of towners is to hook up with a local family and hang out with them. If you don’t know anyone, get a hotel and sit in the stands on St Charles Ave for a «up close and personal» view of the parade. Our parade is by far the largest, with approximately 2500 riders (the next biggest is about half that). Be prepared to catch A LOT of stuff. Be nice to the people in the crowd around you and the riders above you. Make eye contact with the riders for best results, and above all, HAVE FUN ! Hail Endymion !

Endymion is always big, always bright, always glamorous, always generous. But it’s also always slow, always unenthusiastic, and always takes for-​ev-​er. I normally sit thru most of Endymion and catch what falls to me.

2 Live KREWE ain’t got nothing on you!
I can’t believe I haven’t written a review about this yet!
It sort of goes without saying that Mardi Gras is OFF THE CHAIN! You can basically walk BUTT NACKED down the street drunk and NOT get arrested, but come the DAY AFTER Mardi Gras and you’ll find your necked freezing kister in jail NO JOKE! Hahah!
I decided to brave the crowds and cold and go to Mardi Gras this year and I HAD A FRICKIN BLAST! I even have a memento of a shattered phone back to prove it since I thought it would be a SMART idea to take OFF the protective cover and go out in the streets WITHOUT IT! I guess the joke was on me that time.
This year was UBER COOL because I met J and his fam down there and it just so happen that they had the skinny on all the events, parades and shin-​dogs. So we REALLY got TURNED UP in NOLA! What am I saying, you can’t go to NOLA and NOT get TURNED UP! Well I guess you could if you were at a nun and priest convention, but don’t be fooled they can drink. If you don’t know that communion cup has REAL WINE in it! So next time you’re at mass bring a complementary cheese to go with it and they will proved the bread too! Just kidding… Don’t be sooo touchy ease up yo!
Anywho, you can’t go to Mardi Gras without doing a few things and PARADES is one of them. I guess you could forgo them but that would just make you LAME. Don’t get your feeling hurt… I’m just saying. PARADES are part of what makes this festival fun. You get to catch beads, bags, stuffed toys, cups, coconuts (caught and made some of these), dablooms (coins), mask, toys, etc. It’s really an endless list of plastic crap EVEYONE jumps up down, push and shoves, run after floats, brave the cold, sleet, rain and steps on others to get! And then you bring it home and save it or give to others as souvenirs. When people hear you went to Mardi Grads it was like you said you went to Cairo, Egypt! It IS THAT big of a deal. My fam is from that so for me it is NOT all that cuz I can go anytime and do! TRUST when I say it is more enjoyable as an adult without PARENTAL SUPERVISION!
Krewe (pronounced crew) of Endymion is one of the BEST parade to go to. They are one of the 3 SUPER KREWES of NOLA! They dress up to the 9’s and give out OODOODLES of AWESOME STUFF! They have REALLY GREAT floats that ALWAYS have some new type of technology on them and one that is UBER LONG that just came out last year I believe! That bad boy was like 300 plus feet long and can hold upward of 200 plus peeps! AHHH-​MAZING! I don’t know how it gets around corners. They are also known to have celeb grand marshals because they are ALL THAT and I believe they are probably the largest PARADE and have like 75 plus floats! So you will need comfy shoes to do this parade, because YOU WILL be on your feet jumping up and down like a GI-​NORMOUS 5 year old for stuff you DON’T NEED but WANT!
The parade stares in the evenings but peeps start lining up the day before or early mornings to get a GOOD spot to catch beads! This year the hawk was out and it was COLD! I’m sure I could have made snow balls in hell. During the day it was cool but as the sun fell so did the temps but that DID NOT keep us AWAY! My fingers were so numb I surprised they didn’t break off catching plastic crap that you yelled for, and was thrown at you on purpose! I LOVED every FRICKIN minute of it!
If you every get a chance to go to Mardi Gras be sure to see this parade.
See ya there next year!

I love the Endymion fiberoptics and that they parade AWAY from my house. I was able to catch the parade across from Warren Easton HS this year and it was a great spot. Lots of alums were out to cheer on the band as it marched in the parade. Love seeing the local pride. The bands were great and, of course, the riders were super generous with their throws.
This year was extra awesome, I brought my niece to see her Daddy ride AND I got to bring awesome PDX Unilocalers Melvin & Merilou to their very 1^st carnival parade. It was really fun to see the parade through their eyes and my niece had a ton of fun and the crowd was not too aggressive or pushy.
Plus I love the esoteric themes, so Endymion goes to the opera was right up my alley. Definitely a great parade… to see away from Orleans Ave.

Saturday Night– Superdome!
Two words– PAR-​TEE!!!
We were part of a party that only NOLA is capable of. We were on the floor of the Dome with 2 tables.
The bands! Well worth the price of admission! Best part of the night. They came in and kicked it!
The floats were awesome! We brought home 4 bags of loot!
Music– The opening act started slow and turned it up as the parade entered the Dome. After the parade, Carrie Underwood performed. Good stuff. (But she wouldn’t ride in the parade– Princess)
Drinks were plentiful and as the night rolled on, … I don’t remember much. ;)
We plan to attend this party from here on out. The family we are hanging with are the best and so are their friends.
Do this!!!

Awesome! The bands came in first. They outdid themselves. They must have been tired but they gave us the full show. Next came motorcycles and city vehicles. Everyone in parade dress was an inspiring site.
We caught beads and blinkies for hours. My favorite was a necklace with huge gold and black beads. No real scrambles in our area. I got enough to share with some school kids today.
The huge float at the end was unbelievable!

For the first time in years I saw Endymion from the Carrollton area rather than downtown. There were three observations. Number one, that Endymion is a much better parade to see when it is dark than when its still light, you don’t get the same dramatic effect of the floats from the LED lights. The second observation is that in Carrollton there is a much more local and family atmosphere that I much prefer along the parade route. The third and biggest observation is that the throwing patterns by the riders are much different from downtown. Since they are near the end of the ride when they get to downtown the float riders throw indiscriminately. In Carrollton though the old rule goes back into effect.
BLACK MARDI GRAS RULE NO. 1: TO CATCH THROWS AT A MARDI GRAS PARADE OTHER THAN ZULU WHEN YOU ARE BLACK YOU MUST STAND NEXT TO A WHITE WOMAN AND INTERCEPT HER THROWS.

The krewe of Endymion was over crowded this year. I came 3 hours early and I still had to park 9 blocks away. I also didn’t get to take that many pictures because my cell phone died. Regardless it was still pretty awesome. I went home with a ton of throws. I also got to see Kelly Clarkson on one of the floats. No matter what I still plan to go again next year!

Ok, now that I live in Mid-​City and super close to the parade route I’m putting Endymion back in the roster. Last year I was tired of Mardi Gras (having grown up down here and getting crankier with crowds as I age) and only went to Muses. Plus, two years ago a dear friend of mine got clocked in the head by beads which broke her glasses and bruised her face. Not cool, especially since we were sitting way in the neutral ground just watching in our chairs. Madness!
But I digress! I’ve been going to Endymion since high school and my friends and I would wait on bienville and Carrollton where the old daiquiri shop used to be. Keep in mind, my 20^th high school reunion is this year so it’s been a long time (minus the hiatus to Chicago, Long Beach, and Los Angeles).
It has always been one of my favorite parades because of nostalgia hanging out with old high school friends. Plus The crowd is usually more family centric which is nice! People are friendly and giving beads to the older folks and kids. My friends and I stood in front of Massey’s on the sidewalk side and it was great! Plenty of room to breathe and back up when bands came by. Quickly made friends with the lady with a walker and gave her beads. She was a sweet lady! Even standing behind tall looking frat boys wasn’t a deterrent bc they wouldn’t fight me for things and were perfect gentleman!
I even got to see a dear family friend who was a maid at Endymion! She looked beautiful and she was so excited when she recognized me and threw me beads! Such a darling young lady, I remember holding her as a baby! Oy I’m old! So proud of the beautiful young lady (inside and out) she’s become! :)
Endymion is very generous with their throws, even at the beginning of the parade which is where we stood. Plus this year they had the longest float which was crazy! They had to separate it in order to round a corner. That was a sight to see!
Had such a great time and standing near the beginning made it an early night and I could indulge at Lola’s for seafood paella!
Happy Parade Watching!

There is something special about the Saturday before Mardi Gras that most Uptowners will never understand. To them, it’s just another day of parades just like the three days before and the three days after. Families along Napoleon Ave, the college crowd on the edge of Milan, high school-​ers near the Garden District and everyone else trying to squeeze in where they can. Everyone crawls out of bed weary from Friday night, but ready for more because this is a marathon, not a sprint.
In Mid-​City, things are different. There were no parades the night before and there will be no parades after. Back in the day, every neighborhood in New Orleans had a parade. No matter where you lived, you were probably within walking distance of at least one. Over the years, all of the krewes migrated to the Uptown route along St Charles. You don’t think the krewes of Carrollton and Mid-​City always rolled Uptown do you? In the end it was only the lucky few along a portion of St. Charles that got to enjoy a parade through their neighborhood. Not just one, but ALL of them… that is, except for Endymion.
Endymion has been allowed to maintain its original (mostly) route due to the sheer size of the parade. It has the largest membership of any Mardi Gras krewe. It draws the largest crowd. It has the biggest floats. It throws the most beads. I mean, its motto is «Throw it till it hurts!» if that tells you anything. It’s not out of the ordinary to get a bag 5lb bag of beads launched at your head from 100ft away. Unfortunately, the Mid-​City route has a tenuous existence. If the parade is rained out, the city forces them to move to the Uptown route and parade on another day. This is neither cool nor convenient for the hundred of riders or the thousands of Mid-​Citizens who look forward to this event every year. If any other parade has to take a rain-​check, they just postpone the festivities to another day and roll down the same route. When Endymion doesn’t roll, local businesses miss out on their biggest money maker of the year. Annual blowouts get cancelled. A large part of the city goes into depression for an entire day right in the middle of carnival. Yeah, it might be rescheduled to roll after Bacchus, but we could give two shits. Our Mardi Gras has been cancelled.
Normally, the ritual begins Thursday afternoon. Ice chests and chairs start popping up along the massive neutral ground (median for you non locals) along Orleans Ave. The pioneers will «camp out» that night to start establishing their spot for the parade on Saturday. Beer pong is not uncommon two days before the parade rolls. That’s not to say it’s a giant drunken frat party, though. There is a great balance of younger and older sharing space with a college crowd that’s much more laid back than anything at Marengo and St. Charles. Homeowners across the street will erect viewing stands that rival those in front of Gallier Hall. It’s a block party atmosphere throughout the neighborhood from Thursday afternoon straight through early on Sunday morning.
The latecomers will get there Saturday morning. By that time, ladders are up in the air, barbecue masters are grilling away, kegs are tapped and real estate on the neutral ground is hard to come by. Samedi Gras will crank up on Orleans Ave. featuring good local bands plus some of the parade’s celebrity guests right in the heart of the madness. The actual parade is almost an afterthought, but it is totally worth the effort. This is the BMOC of Mardi Gras. Massive cannot adequately describe what rolls down Canal St. The floats are gi-​normous. Two levels of masked riders rain down a hail of beads, cups, moon pies and rubber chickens on anything within range. This will go on for awhile because the floats are three, four or more sections long. At some points you can look left and right and see nothing but the side of a float. On top of that, all of the top New Orleans high school bands march in Endymion. Yes, bands that will outplay most schools at the college level.
For the past two years, Endymion has been a wash. In 2011, it was rained out and moved to the Uptown route. In 2012, it was nearly rained out again. The members lobbied hard and were able to run later after the rain died down, but the bad weather and an abbreviated parade put a major damper on the party. This year, the clouds will part, the sun will shine down on Canal St. and we will indeed party once again.
The Fairgrounds has Jazz Fest, the Marigny has Krewe de Vieux, Carrollton has Po-​Boy Fest, the Irish Channel has St. Paddy’s Day, and Mid-​City has Endymion. This is our event. Saturday IS our Mardi Gras.
Endymion is Mid-City’s parade. Endymion will always be Mid-City’s parade.

Today is a little day at LOC we like to call Freaky Freaking-​Out Day. We are literally shaking in our rain boots due to the fact that we couldn’t be more excited that we’re six hours away from embarking on a celebration that won’t end until Wednesday morning. Seriously. Freaking-​Out.
But right now isn’t about us. It’s about you.
It’s parade time.
So, you’ve got your purple, green and gold on. You’ve got the ice chest packed. You’ve already picked up the Popeye’s family pack. Now comes the biggest decision of all: Which parade should I go see?
While all the parades are worth a watch, not all krewes were created equal. The not so humble opinions of our Carnival vets’ mixed in with the fresh-​eyed opinions of our newer New Orleanians has resulted in a list of the 10 best parades that’ll roll in the next six days.
Take notice that all these parades roll through uptown (although they all start, end and wind through the city on their own routes). Therefore, if you don’t plan on tracking each parade individually, plan on setting up shop on St. Charles between Louisiana and Napoleon to catch them all.
(Due to space limitations, Unilocal wouldn’t let us post the all 10 descriptions of our top 10 so only the article + 1 description of each top ten parade is posted under its respective review page. Also we know we have a 1 – 10 ranking system, but we’re giving them all 5 stars. Because anything Mardi Gras related receives 5 stars, regardless.)
10) Proteus — (Monday, 5:15pm)
9) Mid-​City — (Sunday, 11:45am)
8) Rex — (Tuesday, 10:00am)
7) Toth — (Sunday, 12:00pm)
6) d’Etat — (Friday 6:30pm)
5) Orpheus (Monday, 6pm)
4) Tucks (Sunday, 12pm)
3) Zulu (Tuesday, 8am)
2) Bacchus (Sunday, 5:15, Uptown)
1) Endymion (Saturday, 4:15pm) — We may be biased, but we sure do believe it’s the best. The only parade on this list not to roll down the traditional Uptown route, Endymion rolls the mid-​city route. By itself. Because that’s how they do it. It’s a shit-​show from sun-​up to sun down. There’s just something about Endymion that’s makes everyone… well, drunk. Some may it’s the alcohol… but if you’ve ever read any of our posts before… we don’t necessarily like to drink. We won’t tell you any more about it; just recommend you experience it for yourself. Sober, ha.
«Laissez les bon temps rouler»
— The Freaky Freaking LOCers
P. S. In the past, the skies have dumped loads of rain on Saturday so it’s possible that Bacchus and Endymion will combine to create Bacchadymion on Sunday (parading on Bacchus’ traditional route). We’re hoping that something this unfortunate won’t happen too many years over the course of our lives, but we’re not ones to get upset by the turmoil caused by a little rain. Separate, together, whenever, wherever, we will be there.

As everyone knows, this year Endymion’s route was nearly cancelled because of rain. Luckily for me, they decided to press on and it was one of the best parade experiences I had. Got tons of stuff and the throws were pretty generous up by Canal and Carrolton. Though it didn’t dampen my night (pun intended) the king and queen wussied out. That’s pretty lame considering it’s in honor of them AND even Maroon 5 showed up despite the weather.
Also, GLEASON. Yup. He was there.

My Endymion experience was a little like having a Leap Year birthday: it only happens once in a blue moon.
Because of the weather issues, the 2011 parade rolled on the Uptown route. (You’d know that if you read all the other reviews for this parade!) It also rolled really really late in the day… like after midnight late. I was afraid that the krewe would be drunk beyond all reason, but they seemed to be much better behaved. Exceeded expectations, Endymion!
To be honest, I stayed for the parade because I’d heard so many things about the lighting effects. (Endymion uses fiber optics!) The people around me (sidewalk side) were sharing coveted throws and swapping stuff to make sure everyone got something they wanted.
Keeping in mind that I attended this parade with my wife’s priest, I still had more fun than pretty much any other parade. Would I schlep out to Midcity for this? No way. But they came to my doorstep so I had to give them a good, hardy welcome. Bacchus gave my wife a migraine so she missed all the fun, which was a crying shame. Riders were going nuts with the throws, showering us with bags and bags of beads in addition to the usual «stuff» people enjoy catching. My haul was unprecedented, and the parade experience was downright jovial.
This atypical parade was an amazing Mardi Gras moment, and I’m glad I was there for it.
Recommended beer: Steamworks Brewery’s Ale Diablo. Big, rare, and wild.

I really loved the Endymion parade this year, due to it’s switch to the Uptown route following Bacchus.
Endymion is a parade that I rarely get a chance to check out, because when it comes to Mardi Gras, I am a complete uptown girl. When it was rerouted, due to weather, I was excited.
The throws were great and the Krewe seemed excited to be rolling after Bacchus, one of the biggest Uptown parades. The floats were gorgeous, as usual, and it was a good crowd. I had a lot of fun.
Catch of the night: a light up spinning «wand» and HUGE black and gold beads with a giant Fleur de Lis on them.

Endymion is the Alpha Male of the parade world. The floats are so extravagant and long it puts mere mortal parades out to pasture. Endymion is the biggest parade of them all and as such the crowds do come out in droves.
I love Endymion! It is easily my #1 or #2 favorite parade (the others being Orpheus and Zulu). It’s so hard to pick a favorite. It would be nice to see Endymion with the sun still around. I always catch it at night on crazy as heck Canal St. in downtown area.
If you only have a chance to go to one parade during Mardi Gras go to Endymion! Guaranteed fun!

Bigger is not necessarily better, and Endymion proves that. It shouldn’t be too long now before people start camping out in midcity for their spots. Who cares that for the week+ that you’ll be saving your parade spot the only place you have to defecate is inside the U-​haul trailer that you’re sleeping in (or engaging in acts of varying degrees of debauchery in). I mean, besides the neighbors, who cares.
So many people go to this parade that it can make it impossible to catch anything. I caught more from Proteus in 1999 than I did from Endymion three years ago.
Of the two stars they have a full one and a half of them are for the old steam engines and the Clydesdales. Mind you, I’m not knocking anyone in the krewe, or even the krewe itself. I just don’t enjoy being a spectator at this particular parade.