Carnivale

Another lady in black and pink
Originally uploaded by Alaskan Dude.

from the photo set Carnivale 2007, Venice by Alaskan Dude

It's Carnival Time!

BreakingTheBoredom
Originally uploaded by *eSThER*.

In St. Louis, Missouri, the "big" Mardi Gras parade will take place very soon. Right now it's snowing. I haven't decided yet whether to brave the weather, and the crowds, and the lack of places to park, in order to see any of the parade.

Mardi Gras in the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis used to be a small intimate affair. As the yearly celebration grew, the things that I really enjoyed, like being able to freely walk along taking photos of whatever caught my fancy, became impossible with the huge number of people coming into the narrow streets of Soulard. Now you must choose a spot to stand and stick with it. Photos are harder to get because of all the people jumping in front of you and reaching up to catch beads. The Soulard bars make more money now. But it's harder to find a place that features the traditional Mardi Gras music that I prefer to the vanilla pop and rock sounds that most of the taverns or parade floats blast into the street.

This morning I'm watching the snow fall as I browse around Flickr.com looking at photos from Rio de Janeiro, Barkus pet parades, and other colorful stuff. Here's some of the stuff I found so far:

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: Carnaval by bossa67

Carnaval 2006 by Tonspi

Carnaval 2006 (Rio) by OLD SKOOL Cora
Carnaval, Rio by OLD SKOOL Cora
More Carnaval (Rio) by OLD SKOOL Cora


Mardi Gras 2006 (New Orleans) by toff murray

Barkus 2007 (New Orleans) by golly4wally


Barkus 2006 (New Orleans) by Okaggi (a photographer from Washington state)

Krewe of Barkus 2006 (New Orleans) by rosie rose

New Orleans by Scharlachrot (J.N. Darby)


Barkus (New Orleans) by mistiesanzen

Mom's visit (New Orleans) The first weekend of Mardi Gras 2007: Oshun, Pygmalion, riding with the Vespa krewe in Shangri-La, Carrolton, and Barkus, by photosharp

Barkus (New Orleans) by Nola Tom

Barkus 2007 (New Orleans) by boxchain

Krewe of Barkus 2006 (New Orleans) by boxchain

Barkus 2007 (New Orleans) by annamarie504

Riding with Krewe of King Arthur, Feb. 11, 2007 (New Orleans) by Maitri

Mardi Gras 2006 Parades & Antics (New Orleans) by Maitri

barkus (New Orleans) photos by Mamish

Barkus 2007 (New Orleans) by pinkmartini15

Krewe of Mutts (Baton Rouge) by mfreyder


Barkus 2006 (Soulard) by bfelice

Mardi Gras 2007 (Soulard) by Herkie

Barkus Pet Parade (Soulard) by nutmeg021

canines (St. Louis) by danzeye

The snow is letting up a little bit. Maybe I'll make it to Soulard yet!