Fat Tuesday festivities in Biloxi

Today is the final day of the carnival season. Before the Lenten season begins, the City of Biloxi had their biggest party of the year. It’s the Gulf Coast Carnival Association’s annual Mardi Gras parade, a culmination of 109 years of tradition.
There’s nothing like spending Fat Tuesday in Biloxi, Mississippi. The annual Gulf Coast Carnival Association Mardi Gras Parade once again had the city packed with thousands, all taking part in one of the largest block parties in the nation.
You can trace the roots of the Gulf Coast Carnival Association Parade all the way back to 1908. Today it’s the biggest and best Fat Tuesday tradition on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Biloxi Mayor Andrew ‘FoFo’ Gilich said, “This is the place, like they say at WXXV, this is the place today and it’s hard to explain, but once you get here you can feel it and you can sense what it’s about. It’s all about our families and just having a good time. Laissez les bon temps rouler. Let the good times roll.”
With 99 floats and upwards of 75,000 people expected to attend the parade this year, there was definitely no shortage of good times in Biloxi as the 2017 carnival season comes to a close. Alissa Heald, who was visiting the Coast for Mardi Gras, said, “I use to live here and now I am back for Mardi Gras. All the great people smiling, laughing, drinking, I mean catching beads, I mean it’s all a fun time.”
Another year of Mardi Gras is in the books in Biloxi, but you can bet the good times will be back next year.