Crowds fill up Downtown during Krewe of Orion Parade
BATON ROUGE - Live bands, colorful floats and LED lights filled the streets of downtown Baton Rouge during Krewe of Orion's 26th annual Mardi Gras Parade Saturday evening.
"It's the best parade in Baton Rouge. The nighttime atmosphere is great because we have some light-up throws. The floats look really good with the lights on. And honestly, the vibe with all the Krewes have been on point," participant Ben Roberts said.
First-timers were excited to see what the parade had to offer. One parade goer Jess Wills, who is originally from Texas, says this was the first parade she's attended.
"I want to see colors. I want to see something coming at me. I want to see the Baton Rouge culture. It's so cool to see how everyone comes together and has this big community," Willis said.
While returning guests were excited to make lasting memories yet again.
"To get up in the morning and understand that we're about to do a parade is the best feeling in the world,' Roberts said.
Amerie Judson is a senior and member of the 'Stampede of Soul' band at Madison Prep. She's been attending Orion with the band throughout high school. This year will be the last Orion parade she'll attend as a band member.
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"The people out here are always fun. They yell things like 'go saxophone' and stuff like that. So that'll be something that I take away from it," she said.
Krewe of Orion's captain Darren Coates shared upgrades that the Krewe did with the captain's float. He says they wanted to do something different for spectators this year.
"We built this float last year. We moved away from incandescent bulbs on these floats. A lot of LED programmable lights. We ran LED boards around the top of it. We're trying to bring a different appeal and a different show for the spectators," Coates.
Coates also said the Krewe has already started preparations for next year's Mardi Gras.