Mardi Gras is an event that is just about as famous as the city of New Orleans itself. While everyone is undoubtedly familiar with Mardi Gras on some level, the winter dates and the long drive from Florida make it tough to get out there while also having a college commitment. That being said, once a non-Louisiana native makes it out, it's a pretty crazy experience that no amount of TV or pictures can prepare you for.
For one thing, even if you've been on Bourbon Street before, nothing can prepare you for a Saturday night on the famous strip during Mardi Gras. Game days in college bars have nothing on how crowded that street can get. When navigating from one bar to the next (and in case you've never been before, you should know that the road is lined with bars basically as far as the eye can see), there are points where you are so smothered within throngs of people that you can move without your feet touching the ground. In the spirit of the night, it's great, but anyone who has the slightest amount of anxiety should probably use Royal Street instead.
There are a few misconceptions about the big party, too. It's not as gross, smelly, or dirty as one would have you believe. Are there cups and trash littered everywhere? There absolutely are, but it's not much different from a regular Saturday night on any road of bars. Granted, the volume is higher because the streets in New Orleans are way bigger than anything in a college town, but the ratio of street to garbage is overblown. It's a comfortable experience and one should note that, off of the parade routes, New Orleans is actually one of the most pristinely well-kept places that I've ever visited.
Of course, Mardi Gras' biggest claim to fame are the beads. People go just as crazy, if not more so, than you've heard. From home, it's easy to think that the hype over plastic is stupid, but the hype of the moment is all too real. Something about being surrounded by people jumping and hollering while beads are literally falling from the sky gets to you. Once you catch your first beads, there's no going back. Jumping up from the masses and successfully snagging that sought-after play jewelry is one of the greatest feelings in the world. Few things give you a comparable sense of accomplishment and it soon becomes a status symbol. The people with the bulk of the beads are like royalty on the parade routes.
While there are a few unexpected surprises at Mardi Gras (in that all surprises are expected), there's a lot there that you can't prepare for by doing secondhand research. It's something that has to be experienced to believed. As a UF student who was skeptical of the eight-plus hour drive and the February date, I would absolutely recommend it and go again in a heartbeat.
