Parade and Queen's Ball
Sunday, Feb 11, 2024

TIME: 3:05 Step Off
LOCATION: South Slope

This parade is our gift to the city, a zany, exuberant and irreverent downtown event in the dead of winter.

We invite residents to get together with friends, neighbors, and coworkers to create high-quality, surprising and entertaining entries, add upbeat music, and strut their stuff tossing those ubiquitous beads to the crowd. Zaniness, political satire, and amazing displays of populist art appreciated!

We love and respect our community, and Asheville is not Bourbon Street. Alcohol and nudity are not part of our twist on Mardi Gras in the mountains. We are promoting a fun, safe event for all ages – with a definite emphasis on FUN!

ADDITONAL DETAILS

The Theme!

It's our 17th annual official parade and the theme is: Secret Garden! March participants are welcome to riff on this theme or go in a completely different direction because, after all, we're all about individuality!

Members March!

At least one representative of each krewe MUST be a member of Asheville Mardi Gras and must supply one parade volunteer. Keep in mind that the only way the parade survives is through membership support, so if more than one person joins up -- we would certainly appreciate it! To become a member, CLICK HERE.

And, speaking of krewes ...

Join a Krewe!

You’re welcome to march solo, or with a group of your friends, as part of a krewe. You may even be able to join one of our existing krewes! All we ask is that you dress up, show up and bring some goodies like candy or beads to hand out to the parade attendees.

Click here to sign up as a new krewe.