Carnival A-Z: Venus

Although it is currently lent, I have chosen to finish the Carnival A-Z so that I can move on to other topics and have this collection completed.

During the Carnival Season of 1941, something happened that had never before been imagined. Women boarded floats and paraded around New Orleans. Instead of the crowds catching beads from the maskers though, the spectators were the ones doing the throwing; moreover, they were throwing rotten vegetables in protest of women performing what was though of as unladylike, namely riding on a float. Luckily by the late forties, they were widely accepted and one of the more anticipated krewes of the parade season. Alas, Venus did not survive the nineteen nineties, a tumultuous time for Carnival. A new host of krewes pushed this one out of the way.

Although Venus was the first women’s parade, it was not the first women’s krewe. This distinction belongs to the Krewe of Iris, which formed in 1917 and initially only held balls, although it does now parade. With 1300 members, this is the largest of the women’s krewes and it remains quite traditional.

The loss of Venus did not go un-noticed, and the City’s streets have a new female krewe to fill her shoes. This one though is flashier; it is louder; it is more raucous; it is the Krewe of Muses. The Muses have become quite famous in their short history for having some of the best throws and best marching groups. This krewe also has no hesitation in expressing its sense of humor.