Pardon my French, but this year’s Downtown Mardi Gras is going to be tres magnifique.
In a preemptive strike on Fat Tuesday, the practice of eating fatty foods and imbibing before Ash Wednesday and the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, the Downtown Ambassadors and CityScape are hosting a Mardi Gras Festival, Parade, and Mardi Crawl this Friday, March 4, from 6 p.m. into the wee hours of Saturday morning.
It all begins at CityScape, where a wide variety of vendors, street performers, and Mardi Gras-themed attractions will congregate and get the crowd amped prior to the start of the Mardi Gras Parade, which will start on First Street between Jefferson and Madison at 7 p.m. and wind through a two-mile stretch of Downtown en route back to CityScape to re-join the FREE Festival, which will include:
* Live music from Bata Ire, V-Knights, Bad Cactus Brass Band, Sugar Thieves and show closer Hot Birds.
* Phoenix’s famous food trucks like Short Leash Hot Dogs, Jamburritos and Torched Goodness.
* Artists, CityScape tenants, street performers and vendors selling whigs, beads and other Mardi Gras wares.
* Beer garden to help revelers get appropriately lubricated.
Then, at 9 p.m., the Ambassadors will captain trolleys during a Mardi Crawl through Downtown Phoenix, including pub stops at Rose & Crown, Coach & Willie’s, Seamus McCaffrey’s, Ghost Lounge and Bar Smith.
The Crawl geauxs until 2 a.m., followed by a post-Crawl feast at Steve’s Greenhouse Grill. Due to trolley availability tickets for the Mardi Crawl are extremely limited so make sure you buy your tickets in advance online. $7 gets you a wristband, and $10 gets you a wristband AND post-Crawl breakfast at Steve’s.
Bargainville, population you.
See you Friday!