Mardi Gras Parade

By Grace Thurman

Even though Mardi Gras officially began on February 13th, Bowling Green holds its annual Mardi Gras Parade and celebrations on March 2nd, 2024. At Bowling Green’s Mardi Gras Parade, also known as the Bead and Boogie Carnival, Kentuckians get to come out to the NCM MotorSports Park and celebrate the exciting holiday with friends and family. Activities held for kids, like the official Shoebox Parade and multiple other children's parades hosted by Kiddie Krewe and Kids on the Block, give the youth a great opportunity to go out into the BG community. Others like various markets and food vendors will also be participating in the parade, selling various goods to the community, and supporting multiple charities and small businesses around Kentucky. 

Around 6:00 pm, the official BG Mardi Gras Madness Parade will begin as one of the biggest parades yet within Bowling Green, Kentucky. For the whole family, floats will be presented by various sponsors, music will be played, and the streets will be filled with beads of gold, purple, and green to keep the party going from 7:30 to 11:00 pm. After the parade, the Madness Family After Party will begin between these times, presenting various performances and bands like, The Unpredictables, Tyrone Dunn, and Kin Foke, closing out the exciting night. 

First arriving at the NCM MotorSports Park, volunteers and members of the Kiwanis Kid Club led the way through the track, out to the empty, huge space where the Mardi Gras Parade was held. Walking around, booth after booth of sponsors, products, arts and crafts, carnival games, and small businesses can be seen for the whole family to enjoy. And next to these booths was almost every food truck in Bowling Green, from the well known Totally Baked Pretzels truck to Tennessee's own Cousins Maine Lobster, known for its lobster dishes and other homemade seafood specialties. 

Walking around some more, and visiting the official Kid’s Krewie Booth, I met longtime participant and recent Kiwanis member, Cassie Laine, who had helped set up the event. Cassie explains the importance of the event is to, “support kids for kids,” as all the funds go to multiple charities and kid-based programs all around Kentucky, and the event as a whole, is an opportunity for kids to participate in the multiple carnival games and festivities. 

During our conversation, Cassie also recommends high school students to participate in clubs like Kiwanis, to give kids an opportunity to go out into the community and make something of it. Whether it’s creating events like the Mardi Gras Parade to support a good cause or other acts of service, Cassie says the Kiwanis Club gives people the great opportunity of interacting with others.