The Mardi Gras season officially begins tonight with the celebration of Twelfth Night beginning at 5 p.m. at the Biloxi Visitors Center, followed by a parade to Biloxi City Hall.
At 5 p.m., the public is invited to the Biloxi Visitors Center, 1050 Beach Blvd., to usher in Carnival with the reigning royal courts of the Gulf Coast Carnival Association, Krewe of Athena, Les Cavaliers, Les Masquees, The Revelers, and Krewe of Sirens.
The royal courts will second line into the Visitors Center passing out beads and gathering with the public. Then at 6 p.m., the royal courts will walk from the center to the Biloxi Lighthouse, extinguish the Christmas lights on the city’s landmark, and board Mardi Gras floats. From there, the floats will parade north on Porter, east on Howard to Lameuse Street where they will stop at Biloxi City Hall, 140 Lameuse Street. There, a switch will be flipped and the stately white marble façade and tall iconic columns of the three-story building will be lit up in the colors of Carnival, purple, green, and gold.
The occasion also serves as a reminder of the religious significance of Carnival, often lost on the tens of thousands of revelers at Mardi Gras parades. Twelfth Night, the 12th day from Christmas, is the night before the Epiphany, the day when the three wise men visited the infant Jesus, foretelling the revelation of God the Son being born as a human.
Visitors to the free affair will find gumbo from Mary Mahoney’s, king cakes from Le Bakery, and other fare being served on the green space across from the Biloxi City Hall until 8 p.m.
See the Twelfth Night flyer
News & notes: Weekly report, B-Alert, First Friday
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First Friday: The monthly downtown affair will take a two-month hiatus, returning in March. For more information, visit Biloxi Main Street online by clicking here.
