This Is.....

Sparta!



The Knights of Sparta open up the evening of the first Saturday with what is probably the prettiest of the small parades.  The mule-drawn helmet gives it a nice traditional look as does the season's first appearance of flambeaux carriers.



Their theme had something to do with musicals. Here is their Pirates of Penzance float.



Bagpipes, meanwhile, may not appear often in musical theater. But these kids got a short lesson in how they work anyway.



In our last Carnival post, we mentioned the rising popularity of downtown events like Chewbacchus and 'tit Rex and the beneficial effect this has had on the uptown parade route.  The draw of Chewbacchus keeps the crowd manageable uptown. Even on a Saturday night. Despite the modest attendance, though, Pygmalion goes full Hollywood. Look at this huge garish LED-spangled Jester float.  



 They're also very proud of their signature "Pygmammoth"



Pygmalion appears to think of itself as a little Endymion ('tit Endymion?) deliberately styling itself after "The Biggest Parade In The World" but in miniature. After the signature floats, we see a procession of Endymion-esque duke and maid floats featuring elaborate headdress designs.  Even Pygmalion's theme, "Gods of Carnival" which celebrated the mythological namesakes of other parading krewes seemed like a very Endymion thing to do.



The floats themselves look pretty good too. This one depicts the goddess Nyx.



Here is Iris.



Of course Pygmalion doesn't come anywhere near to presenting an event of the bewildering scale and variety of Endymion.  But it also does not claim to be a "Superkrewe." For what it is, though, the 'tit Endymion parade is pretty good. If you happened be uptown-bound during Chewbacchus Saturday, you certainly could have done worse.

I'm still a little behind on parade blogging.  There's a lot of stuff to get through from Sunday (Femme Fatale was my favorite parade all season so far.) And I've got some photos from Nyx and Druids to upload before tonight's parades get started in a few hours. It's possible I'll get caught back up on Friday morning. It's also possible I'll be flat out dead by then. Stay tuned.