St. Louis Mardi Gras celebration draws massive crowd to downtown, Soulard (2024)

ST. LOUIS — Brad Wuller’s bachelor party was, from what he’s heard, somewhat of a first in St. Louis.

The Southampton resident and about 20 of his friends celebrated his upcoming June nuptials by building a “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”-themed float for St. Louis’ annual Mardi Gras parade.

“I was trying to think of different ideas to do for a bachelor party and we thought about staying in town and going to the parade,” Wuller said. “Then I thought, you know what? We’ll do one better and build a float.”

Wuller and his friends were just a few of the thousands of people who on Saturday morning packed downtown St. Louis decked out in outrageous costumes and sporting the holiday’s signature colors — purple, green and gold — for the Bud Light Grand Parade.

This year’s parade theme was titled “That’s Entertainment!” and encompassed “everything that makes you cheer, dance, or applaud,” according to Mardi Gras Inc. It was the nonprofit organization’s 44th year hosting events throughout the region.

Float themes ranged from “under the sea” to Las Vegas to rock ’n’ roll. The Banana Bike Brigade, a nonprofit group that takes its fleet of decorated bicycles on the road year-round to parades, arrived Saturday with bikes elaborately designed to represent beloved movies such as “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Bee Movie,” “Peter Pan” and “Pippi Longstocking.”

Organizers said attendance was high at earlier events, and they anticipated a big turnout Saturday.

“Huge crowds,” Bess McCoy, a Mardi Gras Foundation board member, said after the parade. “Really, a sea of people flooded all over Soulard. I can say this is probably one of the biggest crowds we’ve seen in the last several years. It certainly rivals, if not exceeds, what we’ve seen pre-pandemic.”

The energy was high Saturday morning as people gathered on South Broadway between Walnut Street and Chouteau Avenue in downtown to prepare their floats and party on a sunny, mild February morning.

Philip and Amanda Kuhlman told the Post-Dispatch they are part of The Sultans of Excess, which they said is St. Louis’ second-longest running parade “krewe” — the term for a group that designs and operates a float in the parade.

Amanda, decked out in Mardi Gras colors, and Philip, dressed from head to toe as a pirate, made the hour drive from their home in Farmington, Mo., for the event.

“We love it, it’s a fun time and also the time leading up to Mardi Gras — the time we spend building the float together,” she said. “It’s really good for everyone to get together and have fun. It’s like another family.”

About 25% of paradegoers are like the Kuhlmans, traveling to the city from outside the St. Louis region to partake in the festivities, according to Mardi Gras Inc. The celebration, which starts in downtown St. Louis and ends nearby in Soulard, is recognized as one of the largest Mardi Gras celebrations in the world.

“It’s not that far, it’s three and a half hours,” Kathleen Bender, who drove from Indianapolis, said while standing on an under-the-sea themed float. “I used to live here for a year. And my friend invited me to be on her float and I said heck yes, because I love watching the parade, but being in it has a totally different vibe.”

Mardi Gras Inc. said not only does the celebration generate about $20 million each year for the regional economy, but it has donated more than $1.3 million to charitable causes in the last 20 years.

More than 80 krewes registered for this year’s parade, which started at South Broadway and Chouteau Avenue and moved south on Broadway to Park Avenue, where the street turns into South Seventh Street through Soulard. It ended at South Seventh Street and Sidney Street.

There were few incidents as of Saturday afternoon. The truck pulling the float for Major League Soccer team St. Louis City SC caught fire at about 11:30 a.m., soon after the parade started, said St. Louis police Maj. Renee Kriesmann, who heads the department’s community policing bureau. But the fire department immediately put the fire out and there were no injuries, only a 20 minute parade delay.

And the crowds weren’t too unruly. There were a handful of calls for fights, but there were no arrests, Kriesmann said. Police issued only one summons for minor in possession of alcohol.

“Other than that, we’ve really had a great day,” Kriesmann said. “It’s been good. Nice crowds, big crowds.”

Maplewood resident Pamela King was feeling the love as she rode on a 1980s themed float, which blasted classics such Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” and tunes from the movie “Grease.”

She said St. Louis Mardi Gras is a special event, particularly with the country’s tense political climate, because everyone shows love to one another and people are there to have a good time.

“I could walk up to anybody right now and get a hug,” King said. “This is my fourth year, and I’ll be back until God calls me home.”

Jacob Barker of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.