Krewe of Tucks is a

New Orleans Mardi Gras The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in all of Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday (the start of lent in the Western ...

krewe A krewe (pronounced "crew") is a social organization that puts on a parade or ball for the Carnival season. The term is best known for its association with Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations ar ...

History and formation

Tucks began in 1969 as a group of Loyola University students applied for a parade permit. The club takes its name from

Friar Tuck Friar Tuck is one of the legendary Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood. History The figure of the jovial friar was common in the May Games festivals of England and Scotland during the 15th through 17th centur ...

's, an Uptown New Orleans local gathering hole and pub, where two college students decided to create their own Carnival

after unsuccessfully trying to become white flambeaux carriers. The parade has grown from a small nighttime parade of pick-up trucks and boats pulled on trailers, into a procession of major proportions. In 1983 the parade became a daytime event and in 1986 the parade route finally stretched to downtown. Past Grand Marshals include a person sporting a

Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional character in the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' ...

costume, film-maker

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

and members of the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. Past Kings include

John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian known mainly for his work in Hollywood films. Candy rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its '' SCTV'' ser ...

and

Eugene Levy Eugene Levy (born December 17, 1946) is a Canadian actor and comedian. From 1976 until 1984, he appeared in the Canadian television sketch comedy series '' SCTV''. He has also appeared in the '' American Pie'' series of films and the Canadian ...

. Notable riders have included The Blues Brothers, WWF Wrestlers, MTV's: The Real World New Orleans Cast and

Rob Dyrdek Robert Stanley Dyrdek (born June 28, 1974) is an American entrepreneur, actor, producer, reality TV personality, and former professional skateboarder. He is best known for his roles in the MTV reality and variety shows ''Rob & Big'', ''Rob Dyrd ...

, from MTV's fantasy factory.

Membership

Krewe of Tucks admits both men and women stating the only requirement for membership is a desire to put on a magnificent show for the crowds. Even though the club has grown in size and stature with 1800+ riders, Tucks has not lost its sense of humor and maintains an "

Animal House ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Peter Riegert, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas Hu ...

" reputation.

Parade

The Krewe of Tucks parades during

, on the Saturday before

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...

. The parade begins on Napoleon Avenue parading down

St. Charles Avenue St. Charles Avenue (french: avenue Saint-Charles) is a thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. and the route of the St. Charles Streetcar Line. It is also famous for the dozens of mansions that adorn the tree-lined boulevard for much of the ...

and ends on Canal Street where the post-parade blowout, the Tucks Extravaganza, kicks into high gear.

Parade themes

Krewe of Tucks parade themes are known for irreverence and satire. Floats, including the King's Throne, a giant toilet, as well as the Queen of Tucks, surrounded by her maids dressed in "French Maid" fashion.

Iconic floats

*Ye Olde Outhouse *Ye Royal Bath is the only float in Mardi Gras with a giant functioning slide into a giant hot-tub *The Funky Tucks is a 3-Float tandem which boasts cages flocking each corner of the float with Cage Dancers inside. *The Tucksedeauxs is an art deco float designed as a giant champagne bottle pouring bubbles into a Krewe of Tucks goblet with dancing ladies.

Throws

Trinkets, collectables, masks, and beads tossed by hand from riders of the floats are called throws. Collectible throws include the Tucks emblem beads, stuffed animals, signature beads, light-up medallion beads, custom print go-cups, three different types of doubloons, stuffed toilet paper doll, toilet sunglasses, and hand decorated toilet bowl brushes. Leading up to parade day Krewe of Tucks hosts several events, fundraisers, and community service projects throughout the city for members to attend. Most notably, the Tucks has partnered with Magnolia Community Services, an organization and school dedicated to helping special needs students work with Tucks in designing Signature Throw Items. In 2017, the students from Magnolia created over 10,000 hand decorated Plungers which went into the hands of all Mardi Gras Revilers on parade day.

Tucks Extravaganza

Tucks Extravaganza is a post-parade party inside the Marriott Grand Ball Room on Canal street that includes live music, food, drink, and dancing. It is open to the public by paid admission and attire is costumed (preferred) or casual.

Tucks Coronation

Tucks Coronation Ball is a Carnival ball to crown the new king and queen for the upcoming parade. The court is composed of maids from each float, who costume as French Maids. This ball has taken place at several downtown hotels over the years, such as the Marriott, Sheraton and Hyatt Regency, and includes live music, food, drink, and dancing. Some unique features of the Coronation Ball include Al ‘Carnival Time’ Johnson singing several of his hits with the live band and having a high school marching band leading the Coronation parade, which includes hand-pulled floats, around the ballroom.

Depictions in media

The Krewe of Tucks Parade was depicted in "Confused & Abused", the fifth episode of the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series '' The Real World: New Orleans'', which aired in 2010. In the episode, the cast rode a

float Float may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * ''Float'' (Aesop Rock album), 2000 * ''Float'' (Flogging Molly album), 2008 * ''Float'' (Styles P album), 2013 Songs * "Float" (Tim and the Glory Boys song), 2022 * "Float", by Bush ...

in the Tucks Parade.

Other

In 2018 the Krewe of Tucks celebrated its 50th anniversary. Included in the celebration was the creation of 4 new floats as well as an animated TUCKS 50th anniversary signature float.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krewe Of Tucks Mardi Gras in New Orleans