Carnival Association of Long Beach parade rolls through town

Long Beach rang in the carnival season over the weekend with its annual parade as a thunderous caravan of neon lights floated through the heart of the friendly city.

Hundreds of Coast residents gathered along Cleveland Avenue Saturday to catch a glimpse of Mardi Gras.

Krewes from all over the Coast lined up their floats.

News 25 was out there on Saturday and asked a parade expert what he thought about the evening. Parade expert Levi Necaise said, “I’m just out here to catch some stuffed animals and maybe some beads. And also, earlier, I just sold some beads to a man for twenty bucks.”

Long Beach Parade Grand Marshal Moises Espinal said, “I think, one, this brings the city back together. Obviously, we have a deep tradition, deep traditions with Mardi Gras. It’s good for business. It brings a lot of people from a lot of coastal counties, coastal states.”

The parade started at 6 p.m. and wrapped up at about 7.