Laissez les bons temps rouler! That is Cajun French for “Let the good times roll!” and MainStrasse Village will really be letting the good times roll during their Mardi Gras celebration.
Amy Kummler, the owner of Up Over Bar in MainStrasse Village, organized the event. Up Over Bar is a Mardi Gras-themed bar where they say “It’s Always Mardi Gras at the Up Over! Come join our Nerd-Herd!”
The celebration will commence with a parade that starts Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. The parade will begin at Larry’s Dive Bar at Ninth Street and Philadelphia, go down Main Street, turn left and then head north to Fifth Street.
The parade will feature an estimated 20 to 30 floats, at least 30 big heads, CinCity Shakers (a Cincinnati dance team), Dance Flash Fusion (a Cincinnati dance group), Cincinnati Skate Collective (a group of Cincinnati area quad and inline skaters), Covington Street Hockey League, American Legion Post 513, cars, trucks and more.
Every year they make big heads for Mardi Gras. The theme for the big heads this year is 1980s cartoon characters, such as My Little Pony.
Following the parade, there will be the Mardi Gras Pub Crawl. Sixteen bars and restaurants will participate in the crawl. They will offer New Orleans Hurricane drinks and Cajun food. Del Gardo’s Cannoli will sell King Cake Cannoli and King Cake Tiramisu.
The event will end around 1 a.m. when the bars close.