Flowers Popular Theme at Mardi Gras House Floats

By Jill Brooke

In a year without parades, the Mardi Gras in New Orleans is now all about house floats and people decorating their front lawns so people can drive by and enjoy spirited creativity.

Don’t you love people’s resourcefulness?  And it turns out that much of the decor has FLOWERS.

As Margaret Jones who lives in Algiers Point told us, “We are seeing lots of flowers which kind of surprised me since, in prior years, the floats were more thematic with dragons, birds and pirates but there seems to be a unifying theme of flowers everywhere.”

“It’s been a tough year so maybe subconsciously or consciously people used flowers this year because flowers make people happy,” added the owner of Scriptura stationery store.

Of course, we all know that. Seeing flowers make people happier.

Even with bars being closed, these folks in Louisiana were going to find a way to celebrate their hometown tradition.  Some either created their own extravagant house floats and store fronts or hired artists to do so like Dana Beuhler at Krewe of House Floats.

I loved the one inspired by painter Gustav Klimt.

There was even a house inspired by “Shitts Creek” and another devoted to Dr. Seuss and Dr. Fauci as CNBC reported.

Jones says that the effort to make these house floats energized people because “being creative” is good for mental health. The collective efforts – she even got her husband involved – gave everyone something to look forward to as well as to be proud of.

Jones said the process of decorating the houses lifted people’s spirits so effectively and she and some of her neighbors are thinking of keeping up this fun decor until St. Patrick’s Day. What a great idea.

Jill Brooke is a former CNN correspondent, Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazine. She is an author and the editorial director of FPD.