In Mardi Gras Indian lore, St. Joseph’s night was the only time other than Mardi Gras Day that the Mardi Gras Indians masked and walked through the streets in their bright-colored suits.
Mardi Gras Indian on Super Sunday. Photo by Alexei Kazantsev.
These days, there are other occasions for masking throughout the year, and St. Joseph’s is marked with a special festival on the closest Sunday—Super Sunday, when most of the Uptown-based Indian tribes don their Mardi Gras suits and meet at A.L. Davis Park (bounded by Washington, Lasalle, Third, and Freret).
The 2012 Super Sunday celebration is scheduled for Sunday, March 18. St. Joseph’s is the following day, Monday, March 19.
Musical performers throughout Super Sunday this year include the Hot 8 Brass Band, the Soul Rebels, the Troop Brass Band, Marcel Richardson, Big Al Carson, the B.R.W. Singing Group, Jo “Cool” Davis, DJ Captain Charles, and DJ Jubilee.
At 1 p.m., a procession of Mardi Gras Indians will loop through, leaving from and then finishing at A.L. Davis Park. The parade takes Lasalle Street downriver as it becomes Simon Bolivar Avenue, then turns left on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, upriver on Claiborne Avenue and finally, back to A.L. Davis Park on Washington Avenue.
