Baubles, boas, masks and beads. All the ingredients for Mardi Gras, Colorado style. It doesn’t matter if New Orleans puts on a really big show, we know how to throw a party or two.
Take a look at what the high country has in store for Shrove (Fat) Tuesday on Feb. 8, before the sacrifices of Lent take their toll.
Snowmass Village turns Mardi Gras purple (representing justice), green (for faith) and gold (signifying power) with a decades-old festival inspired by New Orleans natives themselves.
Fat Tuesday dawns with the Mother of All Ascensions Race at 7 a.m. Climb Fanny Hill on snowshoes, skis or running shoes and race for $10,000 in prizes.
Party with stilt walkers and jugglers while getting your fill of Cajun cuisine at the Cirque’s party. Then move over to Zane’s Tavern for an all-you-can-eat crawdad boil. Meanwhile, on the mall, in keeping with this year’s “Bead There” theme, catch some of the 20,000 beads to be thrown, and taste the traditional King Cake, baked with a plastic “baby” inside.
Jesters, jugglers, kings, queens and feather-festooned fools strut their stuff in the 4 p.m. parade. Celebrate into the night at Snowmass Village watering holes.
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Vail starts its sarcastic and sassy celebrating on Saturday. Races on the hill are just a prelude to the Lionshead street party with a free concert by Lil’ Brian and the Zydeco Travelers. Mardi Gras drink specials, gumbo and Cajun specialties will be served at Lionshead favorite spots.
On Feb. 6, the World’s Highest Low Country Crawfish Boil starts brewing at Eagle’s Nest, atop the Lionshead gondola. It’s an all-you-can-eat affair 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Last year, diners downed nearly 8,000 of the little crustaceans.)
Mardi Gras revelers make room for a Super Bowl party later in the day.
On Feb. 7, go on a noon to 8 p.m. tasting tour with $2 samples of gumbo served in Vail Village and Lionshead restaurants. Vote for your favorite and be eligible for prizes.
Vail’s Mardi Gras parade happens after skiing on the big day, Feb. 8, with a surprise celebrity king and queen as guests of honor. Beads will be flying from parade floats up and down Vail’s Bridge Street.
Crested Butte starts its Mardi Gras celebration on Friday afternoon with a traditional New Orleans-style crawfish boil on the deck of Butte 66, at the foot of the resort. Saturday’s live music gives way to Sunday’s masquerade ball at The Club at Crested Butte. A four-course dinner of French New Orleans cuisine, a Dixieland band, and prizes for best costumes make this a night to remember.
On Fat Tuesday, catch flying beads and trinkets during Crested Butte’s classic Mardi Gras parade. The highlight is the 60-foot dragon, which is operated by up to 15 people.
Crested Butte’s Mardi Gras is a fundraiser for the town’s Mountain Theater, at 32 the longest-running community theater in Colorado.
Summit County (Breckenridge, Copper Mountain and Keystone) has been renamed The Big Easy for Mardi Gras. Resorts turn French on Fat Tuesday, with beads galore from one end of the county to the other.
Breckenridge pulls out the stops for its parade down Main Street on Feb. 8.
The parade culminates at Main Street Station, where brass bands, King Cakes, food, drinks, colorful masks and thousands of beads will fill a heated tent. The king and queen of Mardi Gras will be crowned.
Copper Mountain Resort’s Crazy Copper Krewe draws crowds with its brass band Feb. 8, visiting shops and restaurants, and bead tossing. The Krewe will wind up at JJ’s Rocky Mountain Tavern for Moe Dixon’s aprs-ski show starting at 3 p.m. Prizes will be awarded to anyone finding the traditional “baby” inside the King Cake.
Keystone presents its third-annual Drag King and Queen competition as part of Mardi Gras. The wild-and-wacky parade includes the Keystone Zamboni and street sweeper in addition to those tossed beads. Festivities start Feb. 7 with the Mardi Gras Comedy Night show.
Feb. 8 events start at noon with DJs, dancing, New Orleans-style food and libations, street entertainment, crowning of the king and queen, a massive float parade and drag competition. All festivities take place in Events Plaza in River Run.
Lillian Ross is a freelance writer who lives in Howard.
