As the clouds and fog roll over Portland, Oregon, in the middle of winter, a select group of Louisiana aficionados are dreaming up a hot time for Fat Tuesday in the Rose City. Mysti Krewe of Nimbus presents the Fourth Annual Portland Mardi Gras Ball at the Bossanova Ballroom on March 1st, 2014.
Doors are at 7pm, the show at 8pm. Tickets are $25.00 in advance and $30.00 day of show. You can buy tickets at https://www.
This year’s theme is “Saints and Sinners.”
Musical guests include:
- Northside Skull and Bones Gang
- Too Loose Cajun and Zydeco Band
- Transcendental Brass Band
- Dk Stewart’s Sextet
- The Roseland Hunters
Planning for the annual Mardi Gras Ball takes place all year long. Mysti Krewe of Nimbus – the Portland based New Orleans style Mardi Gras Krewe – pulls from members’ Louisiana and Gulf Coast heritage and from locals wanting to bring a taste of the Louisiana experience to the Pacific Northwest.
What to expect at the Ball? Portlanders enjoy is dressing up in costume and heading out for a night of revelry. Bring out your best over-the-top finery and participate in the Costume Contest. Watch the crowning of the new Mardi Gras King and Queen. And dance the night away to live Cajun and Zydeco music. Expect plenty of beads and Louisiana-style King Cake.
MORE INFORMATION ON THE MYSTI KREWE OF NIMBUS:
The Mysti Krewe of Nimbus brings Louisiana Mardi Gras culture and traditions to the Pacific Northwest via our Annual Mardi Gras Ball, Mardi Gras Day Parade on Mississippi Ave (on March 4th 2014), Second Line Parades at the Safeway Waterfront Blues Fest, and our award-winning Rose Festival Starlight Parade float.
The ball is the brainchild of Steve and Jane-Clair Kerin, who moved from Louisiana to Portland eight years ago. They hoped to see the kind of Fat Tuesday celebrations they were used to but all they found were drink specials in local bars. So, they gathered other Louisiana transplants and their friends, and launched the Mysti Krewe of Nimbus with the goal of bringing some Louisiana-style Carnival Mojo to the Rose City.
A little Mardi Gras history:
Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season in the Catholic calendar. The idea of Carnival, which culminates with Mardi Gras, is to have as much fun as possible in the weeks preceding Lent, the 40-day period of fasting and reflection before Easter. This festival has its roots in various pagan celebrations of spring, some dating back 5,000 years. In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII made it a Christian holiday; we guess the Pope liked to party. People in New Orleans and Louisiana have been celebrating Mardi Gras since the 1700s.
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