Motorists on Interstate 10 Tuesday will get the first peek at the Krewe of Neptune’s 2017 floats when the 19 50-foot-long, double-decker vessels make their way from New Orleans to Biloxi for the Neptune parade Saturday night in downtown Biloxi.
The floats will travel a top speed of 20 mph in the five-and-a-half hour trip to Biloxi and are expected to arrive in town about 4 p.m.
It’s all part of the march up to Saturday’s big nighttime parade in downtown Biloxi, where the 19 illuminated floats will join with 30 other floats and a dozen high school and junior college marching bands to create the 2017 parade, which is themed “Neptune Makes America Great Again.” Also expected to be part of the parade are the Honey Island Clydesdales, a team of horses featured in a 2017 Budweiser Super Bowl commercial.
Neptune actually unveiled its 2017 theme and royalty during a carnival ball Saturday night at the Biloxi Civic Center.
The parade, which begins at 5:30 p.m., will make its way among a route that winds its way through downtown, passes in front of City Hall, winds around MLK Boulevard and onto Howard Avenue before turning north on Caillavet Street. The procession ends at Bayview and Caillavet, in front of the IP Casino Resort and Spa.
Neptune krew members are expected to throw thousands of specialty items during the parade, including Neptune medallion beads, tridents, oversized bouncing balls, footballs and sea creature necklaces.
New this year will be the inaugural Neptune parade after-party, “Neptunalia!” at Hard Rock Live immediately after the parade. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m. with DJ Hyphee opening for No Limits, a St. Lake City band. Tickets for Neptunalia are available for $25 and the party is open to anyone 21 and older. Tickets can be purchased online at www.neptunalia.eventbrite.com.
See the Neptune parade route
See Mardi Gras safety tips and more
Visit the Krewe of Neptune online
City Council to headline chamber’s ‘Coffee Talk
‘The Biloxi Bay Area Chamber of Commerce’s next installment of “Coffee Talk” will be Wednesday morning at 8 at Biloxi City Hall, and it will have all the trappings of a City Council meeting. In fact, it will be an actual meeting of the City Council, with free food.
Members of the City Council will gather Wednesday at City Hall to provide updates for activities in their respective wards. The special meeting will represent the chamber’s February installment of “Coffee Talk.”
A free continental breakfast will be served, followed at 8:30 a.m. by a ward update presented by each council member. A question-and-answer session will follow, if time allows.
The affair is sponsored by Seymour Engineering and RSVPs to the Biloxi Bay Chamber of Commerce are due by noon Tuesday at 228-435-6149.
Visit the Biloxi Bay Chamber of Commerce website
Visit the Biloxi City Council page
News and notes
The week that was: To see the weekly reports from the Biloxi Fire, Police and Community Development departments, click here.
Children’s Mardi Gras parade: To see more than three dozen images from the Biloxi Children’s Walking Parade that took place in downtown on Saturday, click here.
Meeting reminder: The next meeting of the Biloxi City Council is scheduled for Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. at Biloxi City Hall. To see the meeting agenda, click here.
Voter card mailout: New voting cards to remind Ward 2B and Ward 6 residents of their new polling place are being mailed this week. Ward 2 voters will now vote at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Municipal Building, 676 MLK Blvd and Ward 6 voters will now vote at the A.J. Holloway Sports Complex, 765 Wells Drive. To see more voter information, including the current list of would-be candidates, click here.