Close to a dozen krewes parade from sunrise to sundown through Houma, where waterways thread the city as fundamentally as streets. This is one of the largest Mardi Gras celebrations in Louisiana outside New Orleans, and one of the least known beyond Terrebonne Parish. The tradition here is older and less theatrical — less spectacle, more the same families riding the same routes their grandparents rode. For two weeks before Fat Tuesday, the parades belong to the people who live here, not the people visiting. What you see is what the celebration looks like when it hasn't been translated for an audience that needs translation. The Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center publishes the full krewe schedule. Go when the krewes go.
- ·Houma runs one of the largest Mardi Gras celebrations in Louisiana outside New Orleans — and one of the least known outside the bayou country.
- ·Close to a dozen krewes parade from sunrise to sundown through a city where waterways are as much a part of the geography as streets.
- ·The tradition here is older and less theatrical than New Orleans — less spectacle, more the same families riding the same routes their grandparents rode.
- ·Houma's Mardi Gras is what the celebration looks like when it belongs to the people who live there, not the people visiting.
- ·Parades run for approximately two weeks before Fat Tuesday. Check the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center calendar for the full krewe schedule.
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