The first Mardi Gras parade in Auburn since 2012 drove through downtown on Saturday.
Groups of both families and college students had already begun to form an hour before the parade commenced. As a beige Mercedes 560 SL convertible rounded the corner of College Street and Thach Avenue at 5 p.m., people formed a corridor of open hands directed toward Aubie as he threw beads from the back seat.
The Tuskegee University Marching Band were perhaps the loudest participants in the parade and followed soon after. Clad in red and gold, the band members played their horns and drums, accompanied by dancers wearing orange and black tiger-printed outfits.
Krewe de Tigris, a local social organization that emphasizes the Mardi Gras season, organized the parade and were right behind the marching band in a yellow-gold, oversized, flat-bed truck adorned with the Krewe’s hand-painted symbol of a roaring tiger.
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The truck bed was packed with bead-throwing members of the Krewe, who were wearing orange sports coats and black masks.
Other Auburn businesses and organizations that participated in the parade included Dimensions Hair Salon, whose float was decorated with black and purple and accompanied by local DJ Chris Teel; Big Blue Crawfish, which pulled their orange and blue food truck through downtown by a man in a large, multicolored jester’s hat; and the Lee County Humane Society, which featured a banner and several dogs up for adoption.
“I think it was great, and it was fun for all of the kids that were here,” said Jennifer Keller, a resident of Auburn.
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Nathan Pace, a young boy accompanied by Keller, gave the parade a thumbs-up. He said his favorite part of the parade was toward the end, when he received what he called “the jackpot:” a plastic purple necklace in the shape of a king’s head that flashed lights whenever he pressed it.
Auburn student Emily Stevenson watched the parade go down College Street from the tent where she was selling t-shirts for Stamp, the custom t-shirt shop in downtown Auburn.
Stevenson thought the parade was great overall and beneficial to Auburn businesses, but thought that downtown parking was blocked off too early.
“They started blocking these parking spots off at, like, one o’clock, and they don’t close the street until four, so people couldn’t come and shop more,” Stevenson said.
Natalie Yates, an Auburn resident who was accompanied by five children, said her favorite part of the parade was the Tuskegee University Marching Band. She wished that the parade had lasted longer.
“Living in Auburn not as a college student, it’s fun to have stuff to bring your children to,” Yates said. “We do the Christmas parade and the Homecoming parade so this is always fun.”
When asked if her children had enjoyed the parade, Yates laughed and said, “What do you think?” as they ran around her and played with the numerous beads they had collected.
The parade ended no later than 5:45 p.m., and by 6 p.m. traffic had already begun to move through downtown Auburn once again.
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