Members of the Mystick Krewe of Louisianians, the nerve center for Washington Mardi Gras, received an eye-opening email earlier this month when krewe treasurer Ted Jones notified them that there were no more seats available for oversold tickets and asked the members to sell back the tickets.
“Overall, to date, there have been 350 more tickets sold than what was actually available for the Friday night formal festival on Jan. 26 and the Saturday evening ball that follows,” writes Jeremy Alford in his latest column. “There’s little room for doubt that this year’s Washington Mardi Gras, a political tradition that was launched in 1944, will be the biggest on record.”
In fact, the Washington Hilton—the hosting hotel—and others nearby had sold out for the festival’s weekend by the late summer and early fall, Alford notes. Yet people are still under the impression that they can get tickets, even though some Louisiana influencers are still seeking tickets and being turned down.
Alford attributes increased interest from Baton Rouge as one of the reasons for the high demand. Baton Rouge Congressman Garret Graves, the current Washington Mardi Gras chairman, selected Raising Cane’s CEO Todd Graves as king and Anna Maeve Reilly, the daughter of Jennifer and Sean Reilly, as queen.
They’ve helped craft nearly a week of activities in Washington that movers and shakers from Baton Rouge—and elsewhere in Louisiana—want to take part in, he says. Proximity to power is an obvious draw.
And aside from scoring tickets for Washington Mardi Gras, there is another potential hiccup that’s more politically colored, and Washington-centric, Alford writes.
“As of Jan. 15, there were only a few days remaining before a possible government shutdown, with negotiations between the White House and lawmakers getting heated. If there is indeed a shutdown, it could take place partly during the Washington Mardi Gras activities scheduled for next week,” he says. “Louisiana congressmen dressed in tights—again, it’s a somewhat traditional krewe structure—is always a good look this time of year. Their predecessors did it and their successors will do it as well. But Louisiana congressmen in tights during a government shutdown? That’s a look nobody wants.”
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
