Before the parade: Line-Up Instructions
- PICK UP YOUR WRIST BAND IN ADVANCE AT THE NEW YEAR’S WORK PARTY, PARADE WEEK WORKSHOPS AT CAPTAIN AMANDA’S HOUSE, OR THE BANQUET. Pick up in advance to avoid the line on parade day!
- The purpose of the wrist bands is to prevent people who aren’t members from parading, so BE SURE TO WEAR YOURS. If you already have your wrist band, WEAR IT, you can skip the check-in desk. If you need to pick up your wrist band, go to check-in desk.
- Arrive at THE STARTING POINT AT BIENVILLE and N. FRONT STREET (Premium Parking Lot #402 or 300 N. Front Street for GPS, map) by 5:45 p.m.
- Go straight to your place in the line-up. As a full member, choose a parade section and costume that make sense together. In general,
- Domrémy battalion is mostly children and our school partners;
- clergy, monks and nuns can go in Voices;
- knights, archers and soldiers can go with Knights
- general medieval dress can go in Orléans or Restoration;
- medieval flame costumes can accompany our Flaming Heretic;
- special characters related to the trial can accompany Skinz-n-Bonez in the Trial battalion;
- Modern and historical people inspired by Joan after her death can go in the Legacy Battalion
- More help to decide where to go.
- Park in Premium Parking Lot #402, carpool is encouraged. Reserve a parking space.
- Arrive in costume ready to parade. There is nowhere to store anything at the line-up or to change clothes. (Here’s our costume guide)
- Don’t ruin your costume! No modern coats, purses or bags on top your costume. Weather is looking really good this year!
- Hold off on the drinking until after the parade.
- Bathrooms at the line-up are in Canal Place or Jax Brewery shopping center
Your job during the parade
- We are all performers. Help us create a spectacular experience for our crowd!
- It’s easy to get distracted while you’re handing out throws. Foot soldiers have been instructed to gently shepherd full members to keep pace with their section. So if people on the parade marshal team or volunteers ask you to move along and keep up with your section, do what they say!
- Once the parade starts, keep your cell phone or camera put away
- If you see someone you think does not belong in your parade section, feel free to ask them who they are and to show their wrist band.
- Please introduce yourself to the other people in your section!
Where do I go in the line-up?
Full members get to choose where to be, and most of you already know. In general…
- View the line-up here, and check out more detailed explanations in the Characters Wanted Guide.
- If your costume is a medieval person, you can choose to play a citizen of the town of Orléans, France, just liberated by Joan from the English seige. Find the giant castle wall (the Gates of Orléans) and get behind it.
- If your costume is a knight, go to the Knights battalion (in front of the wall).
- If your costume is a monk, nun or clergy, go to the Voices battalion with the giant St. Catherine wheel, St. Michael cloud and St. Margaret’s dragon.
- If your costume is a medieval person, you could also choose to imagine you are one of the hundreds of people who testified at the post-humous re-trial when Joan was declared innocent. Head for the Restoration battalion with the giant Notre Dame cathedral prop.
- Especially for children, if your costume is a medieval peasant, you can go in the Domrémy battalion at the front, representing Joan’s childhood.
Parade end and after
- The parade ends around 8:45 at Oscar Dunn Park (the sidewalk amphitheater across from Jackson Square, formerly called Washington Artillery Park). The king cake and crowning ceremony at ODP is the finale, and the parade then disbands.
- When you arrive at ODP, get IMMEDIATELY off the street and head for your spot.
- If you are not managing large props, you can take a place on the amphitheater steps to watch the king cake ceremony.
- If you are managing large props, move your prop to the right (away from the Cafe du Monde) toward the trees to get the big props off the street. Stay with your props, and return them promptly to the line-up.
- Please do not leave props unattended if you stay to watch the birthday ceremony.
- When you arrive at ODP, get IMMEDIATELY off the street and head for your spot.
- After the king cake ceremony, the parade is disbanded.
- FULL MEMBERS WEARING OFFICIAL KREWE-OWNED COSTUMES SHOULD NOT RETURN YOUR COSTUME TO THE TRUCK. Foot soldier volunteers return their costumes to the truck en masse, but Full members with loaned special costumes should make arrangements sometime in January at your mutual convenience to return your costume back to the captain you got it from.