Adventurer Fever World Nomads Travel Film Scholarship: New Orleans and Mardi Gras 2014!

 

“What we do is make sure that people live a good and honourable life - if not they've got to come and see us and then it is too late for them. It´s an opportunity for them to get the spirit right before they allow themselves to get consumed by the darknesses. We let people know that if they don´t get themselves right, they are coming next. We knock on doors, we tell them to wake up and let them know that it´s Mardi Gras morning - we shake hands and those who have something to fear run away...”

 

How early should you wake up for Mardi Gras Day? Well, let´s put it this way, parties, parades and music will reign across the city all day long until late at night. So you might need to think about conserving your energy if you want to survive Mardi Gras in one piece. If you want to dare the Skull & Bones Gang - you get up with the dawn!

These walking spirits go around the city knocking on the doors of their neighbours. It is early in the morning, around 5am, when we find the gang singing and yelling with bones of their ancestors in their hands. Their mission? To wake up everyone and make sure they start enjoying Mardi Gras, the party they have been waiting for the whole year.

The longer the gang moves through the city, the more and more people join us, and we all end up dancing together in Congo Square -  like the slaves did every Sunday some hundred of years ago. The atmosphere is full of mysticism and the big chief of the gang keeps encouraging the ritual by picking different couples to join him dancing in the middle of the park. I´m pretty sure none of these guys have any issues regarding their spirits. It´s 7am on a freezing and rainy Tuesday and we are a bunch of strangers all dancing together under a big tree. What an amazing way to start our Mardi Gras Day.