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These great New Orleans Mardi Gras bead stores have more beads than you've ever seen in your life and that includes all those beads leftover after the biggest parades. Where to Get Mardi Gras Beads in Greater New Orleans. 1. Mardi Gras Spot - Plush Appeal. 2812 Toulouse St., (504) 482-0000. mardigrasspot.com. Mardi Gras Spot - Plush Apparel mardi gras Retail Store. SHOP NOW. Your one-stop-shop for all your carnival needs! Store Hours Monday - Friday 9am - 3pm. SHOP NOW. Paragon Industries. Be sure to visit the Beads By The Dozen showroom when you're in New Orleans. Over 15,000 square feet of shopping showcasing everything from fabulous Mardi Gras beads, party decorations, Christmas items, plush toys to unique gift items and decorator accessories. A must stop for the serious Mardi Gras Reveler! New Orleans' efforts to reduce Mardi Gras waste and reuse beads and throws have been ongoing for decades and involve a complicated web of community groups, leaders and businesses. Carnival lasts Shoppers in New Orleans fill grocery carts with colorful footballs, cups, feather boas, tiaras and strands of Mardi Gras beads and party decorations. Stores with Mardi Gras items are open year round so everyone can take home some purple, green and gold ware. The city is asking people to recycle this season, to prevent beads and throws from ending up in landfill. New Orleans is urging parade-goers to recycle Mardi Gras beads and throws instead of Mardi Gras Beads. If you’re real crafty, you can upcycle the beads into future costumes and wreaths. If crafting isn’t your game, then you need to donate them to ArcGNO. ArcGNO takes your unwanted Mardi Gras throws and turns them into jobs. They employ people with intellectual disabilities to sort through, repackage, and resell your After mister throws you something, where do Mardi Gras beads go? Sure you keep some for souvenirs, but every year 25 million pounds of used Mardi Gras beads are thrown away. Save the commemorative medallions and blinky lights and let us help you figure out what to do with all of the rest. Here is a list of recycling bins in New Orleans. You can also donate beads to The Arc of Greater New Orleans year-round. The organization creates jobs for adults with developmental disabilities and sells resorted and repackaged beads for reuse. See their drop-off locations. The bottom line: The annual tradition is incredibly wasteful, but every greener option makes a little difference. The Mardi Gras Bead Recycling Center makes for a fun and festive volunteer outing, especially for large groups. Music is always part of the setting as volunteers are tasked with sorting, banding and bagging Mardi Gras beads and throws that are then sold to float riders. The Mardi Gras that locals grew up with, enjoyed and love is occurring in every other part of New Orleans and the surrounding suburbs - not in the French Quarter. The large, traditional Mardi Gras krewes who bring you the "Greatest Free Show on Earth" do not even parade through the Quarter because there is a size restriction on floats in that area. Mardi Gras Throws and Parade Etiquette: Don’t Just stand there! Beads aren’t just handed out to the quiet ones. If you want the good stuff, channel your inner performer and make some noise! To the outside world, catching beads at New Orleans Mardi Gras is a euphemism for public indecency. But, as any New Orleanian knows, you don’t have to do anything special to get beads during Carnival. When we yell “Throw me something, Mister!” at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, we really mean “throw me something cool.” Unlike parades in other parts of the world where you just watch, Mardi Gras parades are an interactive activity and the better your booty haul at the end of the night, the better you consider the parade. In the early days of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the tradition of flashing for beads was born out of necessity. Mardi Gras was a time when people would let loose and party hard before the Lenten season began. This meant that there were a lot of people out on the streets and a lot of alcohol flowing. Can You Get Beads Year Round in New Orleans? Yes, you can get beads year round in New Orleans! Mardi Gras is the biggest and most well known time to get beads but there are actually several other opportunities throughout the year. Some of the other times include: -St. Patrick’s Day parades -Halloween parades To get the full experience on Mardi Gras Day, you can get up in the early morning hours to catch the Mardi Gras Indians, the Jefferson City Buzzards Marching Krewe or Pete Fountain’s Half-Fast Known for its spectacular parades, floats, marching bands, throws, and King cake, Mardi Gras is the biggest celebration in New Orleans. The first recorded Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans took Mardi Gras-style beaded necklaces, once associated exclusively with seasonal pre-Lenten celebrations along the Gulf Coast, are now a bona fide national phenomenon. From football games and theme parties to corporate events and even wedding receptions, from parades and festivals to just about any locale where the Spring Break crowd gathers, the The History & Traditions of Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras has been celebrated in Louisiana since the 18th century, brought by French settlers. Today’s traditions stem from European carnival customs mixed with local culture, creating a uniquely New Orleans spectacle.
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Photos from events, contest for the best costume, videos from master classes.
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