New Orleans

In recent emails from Loose-knit funk they have specifically asked me to look into new orleans which is the birthplace of jazz and famously known for their Mardi Gras events. Here are a few points i Picked up on new orleans and theMardi Gras festival.
- New Orleans is well know for distinct french creole architecture.
- Cross cultural heritage
- Birthplace of jazz
- Has a notorious nightlife
- Has a french quarter which links in with that cross cultural element.
- Mardi Gras is french for 'Fat Tuesday'
Mardi Gras
- Largest music festival people come to experience the food, music and the arts, featuring local and international                      artists and musicians.
- Latin American and African cultures
- Use european instruments with African rhythms 
'New Orleans was the only Northern American city who allowed slaves to play native music in public.'
This quote gave me a wider understanding of New Orleans culture and how it differs from other countries around the time of slavery, it's more open and shows some signs for equality.
the festival contained rhythm and blues, were was such thing as voodoo drumming and dancing and it was multi cultural so had mixed races.
'It was the meeting and mixing, of the essences and emotions of many people, of many cultures.'

Here are a couple of pictures I have collated from google images of a Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans. I have been to a Mardi Gras before in America and remember lots of beads, feathers and masks usually in yellows greens and purples. The party vibe was unbelievable it was just loud, lively and fun, colours everywhere loads of things going on everywhere you don't know where to look! So much fun. Traditionally it's the last day for catholics to indulge before ash wednesday when they begin fasting for lent. 
'French royals, feather-covered showgirls, Energizer bunnies, painted clowns, masked lions—you can find them all (and countless others) in the streets of New Orleans at Mardi Gras. By dawn on that most famous Tuesday, people have claimed the best spots on the streets to watch fabulous floats, outrageous performers, and visiting celebrities go by. Many travel hundreds of miles to be a part of the excitement.
Marching bands, some of them founded more than a century ago, also take to the streets with music and festive dress. They open the day by spreading jazz music through the city before the more than 350 floats and 15,000 costumed paraders take over the scene. Crazy costumes and wild make-up are the order of the day for paraders and parade-watchers alike. The most lavish get-ups can be seen at the cross-dressing beauty pageants in the French Quarter, where bawdy costuming may reach new heights (over seven feet, in heels)'
www.infoplease.com/spot/mardigras1.html