Mardi Gras officially begins on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 16, but it unofficially begins Tuesday night, with the Saints victory parade.
The entire Saints team and organization will be on a series of floats donated from various Mardi Gras krewes across the city ...
More than 250 Saints players, coaches and staff members will be throwing beads from a dozen of the area's premiere Mardi Gras floats. "I think that this is the first time that you'll ever see all these floats together at one time, and very well could be the last time you ever see all these floats together," said Barry Kern, president of Blaine Kern Studios, which is overseeing the event.
If you're not near a TV (ESPNews is broadcasting it), and not in New Orleans, you can still enjoy the fun thanks to NOLA.com, who is showing the parade live from Mother's restaurant. And don't worry, the stream is (or at least should be) SFW: with a group of 250,000 expected, and it being a party in New Orleans, the police have already announced they will be issuing summons with the threat of jail time to anyone who "makes a trade" involving beads. Ahem.