You won’t have to drive all the way to Mobile or New Orleans for Mardi Gras this year.
Krewe de Tigris, a local social organization that emphasizes the Mardi Gras season, is organizing a parade in Auburn — the first one since 2012.
The parade starts at 5 p.m. on Feb. 25.
“I’m hoping that after this year, everyone’s in agreement that [the parade] is something great for the city,” Barry Dorman, chairman of the Krewe de Tigris. “I think it’ll be a good thing for Auburn, and I think it’ll be something the family as a whole can enjoy.”
The majority of Auburn City Council members voted in favor of allowing the parade to take place and to invoke the entertainment district downtown to allow open-container beverages.
Dorman considers the celebration of Mardi Gras to be an important part of Alabama’s history and hopes to model it after Mobile’s celebration of the holiday.
Mardi Gras began in Mobile, Alabama, in 1703, 15 years before the founding of New Orleans.
Numerous local businesses and organizations will be participating in the parade, such as the Tuskegee University Band, Dimensions Hair Salon, Auburn Furniture, Mint Julip Boutique and the Red Clay Brewing Company.
Ward 8 Councilman Tommy Dawson, however, had reservations about the idea of a Mardi Gras parade in Auburn and voted against it.
“The Mardi Gras parades I’ve seen in New Orleans and what not, I don’t feel like it’s appropriate for Auburn,” Dawson said. “That’s why I voted against it. ... From a law-enforcement background, I have concerns about it, of course. There’s so much that could go wrong anytime you have parades.”
Ward 3 Councilwoman Beth Witten is in favor of the parade and said, like the Christmas parade and Summernight parade, it’s a great way to bring the community together.
“This is just another extension of activities to get everybody out downtown and into the community that may not have otherwise been to a Mardi Gras parade, or they used to grow up going to Mardi Gras parades and so now they get to enjoy one in our own community,” Witten said.
Witten is also a member of the Krewe de Tigris and says planning for this year’s parade has been in progress since January 2016.
The parade will follow the same route as the Homecoming parade, beginning at Mary Martin Hall and making its way through downtown Auburn along College Street, Tichenor Avenue, Gay Street and Thach Avenue.
Portions of these streets will be closed off to vehicle traffic starting at 4 p.m. on Feb. 25.
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