For Mardi Gras float makers, next year is here

As Carnival builds toward its out-of-control crescendo on Fat Tuesday, Barry Kern and his team of float builders and artists are already preparing for next year’s parades. One of the biggest free parties in the world fuels a multimillion-dollar industry for the city of New Orleans and serves as the lifeblood of businesses like Kern’s studio, which has been operating for more than 50 years and makes or repurposes some 400 floats a year—or roughly a float a day—Kern tells The Associated Press. Various studies have pegged the economic impact of Mardi Gras on New Orleans between $100 million and $500 million. In the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras, more than 100 parades roll through the Crescent City and its suburbs. It takes an entire year to prepare enough floats for them, Kern says, and over the years the floats have become larger and more ornate—and more expensive. “It’s a constant process,” Kern says. “It’s like an assembly line.” Apart from Mardi Gras–related business, Kern’s studio also has clients in Japan and Korea and in theme parks across the country. Read the full story here.