Krewe of Bacchus

IN VINO VERITAS!
This Sunday evening was the warmest in climate so far with the exception of a few rain drops during the last quarter of the krewe that allowed us to get closer to the barricades to catch many of the Bacchus beads and throws. Beautiful parade floats that totally captured the 2015 theme, «Children’s Stories That Live Forever».
Hoping tomorrow will continue on with similar great weather. Two more days till Mardi Gras Tuesday…

When we decided to take a cruise in February, a light bulb went off to pair it with Mardi Gras. We hit almost all the parades. We kicked off Mardi Gras before the cruise when it started and then when we got back it was like nonstop parades. This one was pretty fun. We had a great viewing location nearing the end of the route near Canal St. This is where the parade tracker comes in handy because it moves so slow getting along the route.
Hugh Laurie was the Bacchus King this year. We had a great time and plenty of beads were flying. We got lucky that the weather was near 70 degrees and clear for most of the time we were there.
I think everyone should do Mardi Gras at least once, I am not a drinking partying person, anymore, but this was still a fun experience. I had never imagined it to be as wild as it was, but that was part of the fun. Where else will you see people drinking beer with one hand and washing it down with a bottle of Jack in the other, while stepping over the passed out drunks face down in the beads.

Do throws count as freebies for reviews? Bacchus is always a great parade to see. We got lots of blinky grapes and they actually throw the best beads to take somewhere as a souvenir because they have the name, city and year Bacchus began.

Bacchus is one of my favorite parades; probably second favorite to Endymion. This year’s appearances by Steve Gleason, Team Gleason, and Mark Ingram just added to the awesomeness. I love the floats and am always so excited to see the Bacchagator rolling down the street. The wine/​grape themed throws are unique and the krewe is overall pretty generous with the throws. Minus one star because the parade did feel a bit endless at times.

Bacchus passed right in front of my restaurant last night. It is a Super Krewefor sure, beautiful floats, great bands, fun themes and ton of throws, the restaurant was full before and after the parade so it gave my employees a chance to see the parade also. The best throw was a ball that was clear with a flashing light inside, it will keep my cat busy for days.

Bacchus is one of my favorite parades. This Super Krewe is made up of huge, gorgeous floats and is always generous with the throws. I usually like to catch it on St. Charles Avenue, because I can’t be bothered with barricades on the downtown part of the route.

A parade after mine own wine-​lovin’ heart! I was able to catch this one last night at this year’s official Joi B Mardi Gras viewing spot (around the Doubletree and Windsor Court).
It was my first time at Bacchus. Shocking, I know, but last year I was spoiled by all the parades that went by my house and I didn’t feel like venturing out after a parade-​filled Sunday. But I have to say, Bacchus blows away all the morning/​afternoon parades (which I didn’t actually see this year. I realize I’m more of a night parade kinda person).
This year’s theme was the Seven Seas. Floats represented the islands, from Belize to New Zealand to Easter and most in between (what, no Rikers?!) I loved all the tiki-​themed floats and of course the Bacchasaurus and Bacchagator are both majestic and hilarious.
The krewe is very generous with throws, my favorite being a blinky rubber cluster of grapes. How could I not love all these wine-​themed throws? I was in a big crowd, yet still managed to catch a ton of beads, doubloons and cups, unlike Friday night, when the crowd was thin and the throws were far and few between.
The bands in this parade are also phenomenal! I think I had one of my best parade experiences to date last night at Bacchus. Definitely on my list with Krewe Du Vieux, Nyx and Muses on my not-​to-​be missed list.

A must see if you ever go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Its a very long parade and you can expect to get 40 lbs of beads by the end of the parade… The best place to wait is toward the end of the parade for beads because they krewe is just trying to get rid of all of the beads by then…

Today is a little day at LOC we like to call Freaky Freaking-​Out Day. We are literally shaking in our rain boots due to the fact that we couldn’t be more excited that we’re six hours away from embarking on a celebration that won’t end until Wednesday morning. Seriously. Freaking-​Out.
But right now isn’t about us. It’s about you.
It’s parade time.
So, you’ve got your purple, green and gold on. You’ve got the ice chest packed. You’ve already picked up the Popeye’s family pack. Now comes the biggest decision of all: Which parade should I go see?
While all the parades are worth a watch, not all krewes were created equal. The not so humble opinions of our Carnival vets’ mixed in with the fresh-​eyed opinions of our newer New Orleanians has resulted in a list of the 10 best parades that’ll roll in the next six days.
Take notice that all these parades roll through uptown (although they all start, end and wind through the city on their own routes). Therefore, if you don’t plan on tracking each parade individually, plan on setting up shop on St. Charles between Louisiana and Napoleon to catch them all.
(Due to space limitations, Unilocal wouldn’t let us post the all 10 descriptions of our top 10 so only the article + 1 description of each top ten parade is posted under its respective review page. Also we know we have a 1 – 10 ranking system, but we’re giving them all 5 stars. Because anything Mardi Gras related receives 5 stars, regardless.)
10) Proteus — (Monday, 5:15pm)
9) Mid-​City — (Sunday, 11:45am)
8) Rex — (Tuesday, 10:00am)
7) Toth — (Sunday, 12:00pm)
6) d’Etat — (Friday 6:30pm)
5) Orpheus (Monday, 6pm)
4) Tucks (Sunday, 12pm)
3) Zulu (Tuesday, 8am)
2) Bacchus (Sunday, 5:15, Uptown) — Bacchasaurus. Bacchawhopppa. Bacchagator. Bycch far one of the becchst parades out there; his super-​krewe does it bicchg. The final salvo in a day filled with great parades, Bacchus is a great closer. So don’t plan on passing out from drinking before it starts. Instead plan to have two less beers and plan to go streaking down the parade route with a group of friends, in honor of The God of Wine, Will Ferrell, who will be riding that day. It’s been said that seeing his fans do this is one of his greatest pleasures in life, unless of course you forget your green hat, in which case he will look away in scornful shame.
1) Endymion (Saturday, 4:15pm)
«Laissez les bon temps rouler»
— The Freaky Freaking LOCers
P. S. In the past, the skies have dumped loads of rain on Saturday so it’s possible that Bacchus and Endymion will combine to create Bacchadymion on Sunday (parading on Bacchus’ traditional route). We’re hoping that something this unfortunate won’t happen too many years over the course of our lives, but we’re not ones to get upset by the turmoil caused by a little rain. Separate, together, whenever, wherever, we will be there.

This is more of a critique of the people that this parade draws, not the Krewe itself.
I enjoyed Bacchus but it would not be the *one* parade I would recommend that people see if they could only catch one. First of all, if you’re coming to nola for Mardi Gras, what are you doing going to ONE parade? I made it to 20 parades this year (my first year). Granted, I live here, but if you’re going to spend all that $$$ traveling here, go to the parades and do it like the locals. Don’t just go to the Quarter and act stupid. Sorry. Rant is over.
I’m not sure if it’s always like this at Bacchus, but I could not deal with the crowd. I was at the front on the neutral ground side for 10 minutes, and there were just too many people trying to drunkenly cross the street and pushing when people had no room to move, and within those 10 minutes, there was a woman who shouted, «they’re fighting!» and wanted to move and there was also an incident where the cops had to get involved. Not sure what the details of that deal was, but the girl next to me told me that someone had smelled marijuana, and then we saw an angry girl tell the cops to shut the f**k up and be escorted to the sidewalk side and still continue to shout at the cops. I don’t really know how she did not get arrested, but she didn’t and went back to smiling in a little bit.
I did not experience anything like that at any of the other 19 parades I went to. I don’t know if this was just the timing of the parade or if Bacchus just draws a lot of clueless inebriated tourists who lack Mardi Gras etiquette.
But I did enjoy seeing the signature floats I was told about and catching some of the cooler beads. And seeing Will Ferrell as Bacchus was fun as well. Just wish people would behave at least human… You can have a good time without being jerks.

The first parade I’ve been to during Mardi Gras! My friend who went to Tulane highly recommended this parade… «If you can only catch one parade — catch Bacchus!»
My gfs & I found a nifty little viewing spot along St. Charles and Canal and stationed ourselves there for the BEADS. MORE BEADS PLZ!
I really enjoyed all the cutesy punny names of the floats as well as Mr. Will Ferrell himself as king! Awesomesauce.
And seeing as Bacchus was the God of Wine — we gladly slurped down our huge Hurricanes while dancing around and viewing the parade (:

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed one of my fave Krewes for Mardi Gras… DA BACCHUS!!! I have several friends that ride in this parade and I have been fortunate enough to attend the ball several times. Bacchus doesn’t disappoint from Bacchagator, King Kong and Bacchasaurus to the grape footballs… all things Bacchus please me. The floats are stunning, the themes are great, and they usually have the most amazing «King» choices of all the parades… Hello Will Ferrel!
The history of Bacchus:
The Krewe of Bacchus parade was founded in 1968 by a handful of New Orleans business leaders whose dream was to revitalize Carnival. However, the seeds of the Krewe of Bacchus were actually sown two decades before the present carnival organization was founded.
The original Krewe of Bacchus was the brainchild of Owen Edward Brennan, Sr., a true visionary. Brennan, owner of the Absinthe House, a famous bar on Bourbon Street, and later founder of Brennan’s Restaurant on Royal Street, was also the father of the first Captain of The Krewe of Bacchus, Owen «Pip» Brennan, Jr.
In the late 1940’s, Brennan realized that a large segment of his clientele was seasonally unhappy-​namely tourists to the Mardi Gras. At that time, Carnival balls at Mardi Gras were predominately closed to anyone outside of New Orleans’ society circles.

So, In 1949, Brennan decided to spend an enormous amount of money, buck the entrenched New Orleans Society, and revolutionize the Mardi Gras. He did so by creating a brand new Krewe, called the Krewe of Bacchus, wide open to tourists.
Brennan staged two Bacchus Carnival balls, one in 1949 and the other in 1950 before his death in 1955. Regrettably, he did not live to see his idea develop into a new and lasting form.
Fast forward to 1968. For years, Carnival in New Orleans had been losing its luster slowly but surely. There was a lot of talk around town about what should be done to give a spark to the celebration.
Early in 1968, Owen «Pip» Brennan, Jr., son of the late Brennan, held a meeting at Brennan’s Restaurant to address this problem. What emerged was a rebirth of the vision his father conceived almost 20 years earlier: The Krewe of Bacchus.
The Krewe of Bacchus had left a lasting mark on the City of New Orleans and had proven to be the boost that the Carnival season so desperately needed.
Now, with more than 1,350 members and 33 animated super-​floats, the Krewe of Bacchus is revered as one of the most spectacular Krewes in Carnival history.
Pip Brennan still serves as Captain of The Krewe of Bacchus; overseeing each detail with great pride and meticulous perfection. He is now joined by his three sons, Owen Brennan, III, Clark Brennan, and Blake Brennan, all of whom serve on the Krewe’s Board of Directors. Owen, III also serves as the Krewe’s Executive Director. Like their grandfather and father, this third generation of the Brennan family shares the same love of Mardi Gras and New Orleans.

Y’know I used to love Bacchus with the BacchaGator and the BacchaWhopper and the Kong family (all are annual floats). But this year the themed floats were LAME. I think Bacchus is showing the age of it’s krewe. C’mon «Saluting our WWII Veterans» may be a fine & noble theme, but it doesn’t lend itself to exciting floats. Yawn.
Props for the Bacchus foam football that looks like grapes.

A little slow at times, but kudos to the marching band that stopped in front of us (East St. John?) for keeping us entertained with their dancing and music.
The crowd this year for Bacchus was almost unbearable, but I blame this mostly on the spring break college kids and the unfortunate Saturday night storm that pushed Endimyon into the same night as Bacchus. I mean, I was looking forward to watching both parades, but not when it was nearly impossible to see the awesome floats. I also heard stories of kids trying to decapitate one of the heads on a float. Sigh.
Anyhow, none of these issues can be blamed on the Krewe, so I’m not deducting any stars for that. As usual, they were generous with their throws and the floats were great. 4 hours of fun = 4 stars!