Who would have known that a quirky little romp in costumed, prideful color by a group of guys in the French Quarter in 1972 would turn into one of the Big Easy’s biggest annual events? Well, here’s the evidence: OffBeat photographer Kim Welsh and intern photographer Caitlyn Ridenhour were right on the scene once again this Labor Day weekend to capture some of the most vibrant, colorful moments at the annual Southern Decadence Festival and Gay Pride Festival in the French Quarter, now 40 years strong. Very few cities have two destination gay pride and LGBTQ festivals, but of course New Orleans is the festival town, so pride is celebrated in July as well, during the national gay pride week, but Southern Decadence is gay pride with an even tighter twist – it’s NOLA-style, which means the bar is raised for creativity in costuming, dance and much more each Labor Day weekend. View their photo sets below.

Enjoy!

 

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All photos courtesy of Kim Welsh and Caitlyn Ridenhour. For more photos from the New Orleans music scene visit OffBeat’s Flickr page.