Krewe of Neptune floats dock at the Coast Coliseum
Floats from Louisiana arrived at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum where they’ll wait until it is time to roll again during this weekend’s Krewe of Neptune Parade.
Rolling in overnight, floats made their way from NOLA to the Gulf Coast during the midnight hours. Owen Brennan with Mardi Gras World said, “We left at 10 p.m. and what time is it now? It’s 5 in the morning. It was one heck of a ride, but we got them over here for Neptune.”
A slow and steady process, the parade floats at their max speed can only travel 15 MPH. “We averaged 12 MPH, 13 MPH, and we had a police escort. We had to change escorts from parish to parish and then we had to change escorts again when we entered the state of Mississippi. It was a haul.”
While the journey is a long one, for the organizers it is well worth it to keep the good times rolling. Parade Director Richard Landry said, “It’s all about the people and the crowd, there’s nothing like it.”
You’ll be able to see the floats in action during the Krewe of Neptune Parade on Saturday, February 26th.
After the parade, the floats normally are sent back until the next carnival season, but this season they’re making a change in residence. “We now own these floats. That’s very exciting. We’ll be able to put them in their own carnival den and do work on them ourselves. We won’t have to take them back to Louisiana like we did in the past.”
If you can’t watch the parade in person this year, we will be livestreaming it on WXXV. Rob Knight and Meggan Gray will be hosting the parade and Grant Chighizola will be on the street reporting.
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