Parade riders will throw disks that turn into bead bags to hold your goodies and CDs with highlights of the 2000 parade. Other notable newbies this year include smaller krewes, Krewe d'Etat and Caesar, throwing special medallions to match each of its floats. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee will throw magnets that look like Wal-Mart smiley faces with a cowboy hat on top in several Jefferson Parish parades. Old School Is In The House Popular fads and commercial catch phrases have not taken hold of long-standing traditions such as Mardi Gras. In some ways, this year is not much different from Carnivals of years past.
Spectators seem content with their beer and rabble-rousing in the streets.
Errol Laborde, Carnival historian, said that for someone just standing on the street, it might not be noticeable. But there are subtle things going on that are evidence of a new generation developing in and around Mardi Gras. We're going back to the old style of parades. Bacchus and Endymion are two of the largest parades that roll through the city. They often draw big celebrity names to be grand marshals or royalty.