Mardi Gras Ball
The following description was submitted by the event organizer.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune has listed Portland’s annual Mardi Gras Ball as one of the top five most authentic Mardi Gras celebrations in the United States outside Louisiana. And it’s no surprise given the event’s origins – produced since 2010 by the Mysti Krewe of Nimbus – a NOLA-style social club founded by Louisiana expatriates that now counts more than 100 members in Portland.
This is no half-hearted plastic bead and powdered hurricane mix party; this is a critical mass of Louisiana revelry with full costume finery — the crazy, the macabre, the funny, the sexy, the rude — and high-spirited indulgence. Needless to say, costumes are highly encouraged — but not required — with prizes awarded to the best. Crowning of the Mardi Gras King and Queen will include a free traditional king cake distributed to the crowd.