Krewe of Neptune gearing up for Carnival season

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - Imagine transporting Mardi Gras floats from New Orleans to the Coast on I-10 going at a speed of 20 miles an hour. For years, it’s what the Krewe of Neptune did every year for their annual parade.

However, that logistical challenge is now a thing of the past. Last spring, they moved into their new float den.

“What it does is give us plenty of time to make necessary repairs,” Richard Landry said. “We’ve already had a couple of Saturdays where we had much of our membership here to work on these floats and get them ready so we’re not in that crunch time to get them delivered from New Orleans a week before the parade and work all those days in a row.”

“We’re very excited about this and they rest well in this building so we don’t have to get on the interstate,” Landry said. “You have to permits and escorts, and it’s about a six-hour drive to get them here at 20 miles an hour, so it takes a lot to get them.

“We do have two more floats on the way. Our membership has grown exponentially, so we need a few more. We’ll have 19 floats this year.”

You’ll see those floats and many others during the Krewe of Neptune parade on Saturday, Feb. 10.

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