Ira Brooker

It's Mardi Gras time.

Until recently, that didn't mean a whole lot unless you were living in New Orleans, Mobile or another town with a citywide celebration. But times change. Although technically a religious holiday--the overindulgence of Carnival season is intended as a "last fling" before the self-deprivation of Lent--Mardi Gras has long since eclipsed its Catholic roots. Likewise, the party has gotten too big for even New Orleans to contain it. Over the past ten years or so Mardi Gras has been steadily gaining visibility and popularity across the country. It isn't exactly a national holiday yet, but it's getting there. No matter where you live, the odds are you'll be able to find a tavern decked out in green, gold and purple streamers this February 8.

Chicago has embraced Mardi Gras with a passion in recent years. Fat Tuesday parties abound in practically every neighborhood in the city. At least half a dozen Louisiana-style bands call Cook County home, and they do double and triple duty at this time of year. It's even rumored that Chicagoans can sidle up to a genuine bayou crawfish boil if they know where to look.

But Mardi Gras in Chicago has become more than just a game attempt at replicating the New Orleans scene. Many key players in local celebrations have little to no Louisiana background, but that hasn't dampened their ardor for Fat Tuesday frolicking. "I've never been to New Orleans, I'm ashamed to say," says Marty Larkin, founder of mardipartychicago.com, an online calendar of local Mardi Gras events. "I've been told I won't come back if I go." A musician and chef, Larkin fell in with the Carnival crowd a couple of years back while organizing Hankfest, an annual tribute to Hank Williams. The freewheeling camaraderie of the Mardi Gras folks held an instant appeal for him. He sums up the holiday's ever-widening reach in appropriately bacchanalian terms: "It's just a loose, celebratory, party-like-this-day-could-be-your-last kind of vibe." It's that vibe that is attracting more initiates every year, rapidly building Mardi Gras in Chicago into a holiday on its own terms.

The man who lured Marty Larkin is perhaps Chicago's most visible Carnival recruiter. Tom Jackson is the host of the weekly "New Orleans Music Hour" on WLUW and Captain of the Mystic Krewe of Laff, a Chicago-based "Social Aid and Pleasure Club" in true New Orleanian tradition. "The group started fourteen years ago as a house party celebrating Mardi Gras in a basement and has grown to a nonprofit corporation hosting parties for 450 people in cultural centers," Jackson explains. Only a few Krewe members are Louisiana expatriates, again suggesting that locals have taken up the mantle to recreate Carnival in their own image. "They tend to be people who are really into the whole New Orleans and Louisiana culture--not just Mardi Gras, but the food, the music, the whole thing."

There are some Mardi Gras traditions that just can't be replicated up north, though. Chicago's icy February climate, for instance, makes staging outdoor parades a tricky proposition. "It'd have to be small and quick, probably," Jackson says. The Krewe does parade at various events throughout the year, but the Mardi Gras action tends to stay indoors. The culmination is an invitation-only bash at the Chicago Cultural Center featuring costumes, brass bands and free-flowing liquor.

Jackson attended Mardi Gras in New Orleans once in the seventies but says he actually prefers the somewhat saner Chicago Carnival scene. "I think the universal appeal is it's just plain fun," says Jackson. "In New Orleans, it's much more ingrained in the culture and part of how they live and celebrate life. Up north it's an excuse to party. It's a holiday that's worth celebrating."

When most folks think Mardi Gras music, the brassy second lines of the French Quarter spring to mind. Chicago offers plenty in that area, from the Professor Longhair/Dr. John piano stylings of the aptly named Professor John to the rollicking swing of the B.S. Brass Band. But Mardi Gras' musical borders extend beyond New Orleans, as Denise Thompson, violinist for local Cajun band The Midway Ramblers, is quick to remind people. "Cajun Mardi Gras is a more rural, family-oriented event, whereas New Orleans Mardi Gras is more urban and crazy." The Ramblers' rustic-yet-modern style fits right in with that rootsier Carnival vibe. "We like to play places that recreate that Louisiana Mardi Gras feel and atmosphere. We always get a kick out of seeing people who are hearing this music for the first time and getting into it. At Mardi Gras time people are so ready to party that it becomes a real give and take between band and listeners. Food, music, colorful celebration in the dead of winter, forget your troubles and go home happy. That's what it's all about!"

(2005-02-01)

Also by Ira Brooker

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