ST. LOUIS - A beautiful Saturday morning and afternoon, with wall-to-wall sunshine and temperatures that reached the low-50s, brought out revelers from around the St. Louis area for the annual Soulard Mardi Gras Bud Light Grand Parade and street party in the historic Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis.
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This year's parade theme was The Blues, celebrating everything blue --- the music which is a big part of the neighborhood's bars and restaurants, blue skies, blue seas, and a special emphasis on the Stanley Cup champions St. Louis Blues hockey team. The parade drew many thousands of spectators hoping to grab beads thrown from floats from over 100 krewes along the parade route.
The parade stepped off from a parking lot at Busch Stadium, wound its way through the streets near the ballpark, and eventually down its way toward the Anheuser-Busch brewery on South Broadway, which has been the parade's route for many years.
For the first time, random plastic eggs were tossed out along the route, containing vouchers for prizes, such as tickets to the VIP and Bud Light party tents, autographed Blues jerseys and tickets to games, and other prizes.
After the parade, the annual street party in the neighborhood kept revelers hopping, with various stages featuring local musical acts of all genres. In addition, the various bars and restaurants sold food and drink throughout the day. Alcohol sales were ended at 7 p.m., by local ordinance.
The Grand Parade is the climax of the St. Louis Mardi Gras celebrations, which traditionally begins on 12th Night Jan. 6, the 12th and final day of the Christmas season, and lasts until midnight on Ash Wednesday.
Next year's Grand Parade will step off on Saturday, Feb. 13.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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