Cirque du Soleil to join Krewe Mystique parade Saturday

When the Krewe Mystique Mardi Gras parade rolls through downtown Baton Rouge on Saturday, it will include a very special guest. Cirque du Soleil, which bills itself as a “dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment,” is joining the parade to help promote its upcoming performances at the Baton Rouge River Center. “It’s a huge thing for Baton Rouge Mardi Gras to land something so big-time on the national scene,” says David Jumper, parade organizer. “I’ve been involved in this for about 15 years and we’ve had a lot of great people and great groups in the parade over the years, but nothing on the national level like this.” Jumper says the Cirque de Soleil crew will hold a promo event at the River Center beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday, and then will join the 2 p.m. parade, with its tour bus rolling right behind Grand Marshal Scott Rogers. “They have a bunch of street performers they’ve hired to walk alongside the bus—unicyclists and jugglers and so on—and they’ll also have some special Cirque du Soleil throws,” Jumper says. About 50 floats and bands will roll in this year’s parade, the Krewe Mystique’s 36th annual. Complete parade details are available on the krewe’s website here. Details on Baton Rouge performances of Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam, taking place Feb. 22-26, are available here. —Steve Sanoski