 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2019) |
| Abbreviation | KoB |
|---|---|
| Named after | Babylon |
| Formation | 1939 |
| Type | Carnival Krewe |
| Location |
|
Membership | 250 |
| Website | knightsofbabylon |
Knights of Babylon is a New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe that was founded in 1939. [1]
The Knights of Babylon parade on Jeudi Gras, the Thursday night prior to Mardi Gras. The Knights of Babylon Parade rolls annually on its traditional Uptown New Orleans parade route. Babylon is always the first parade on this evening, leading the way for the other Thursday parades, and blazing the trail for Carnival weekend festivities.
Its route starts at the intersection of Magazine Street and Napoleon Avenue, turning right toward downtown at St. Charles Avenue. It travels downtown on St. Charles Avenue past Lee Circle and onward to Canal Street where the parade disbands in front of the Marriott Hotel. Following the parade, Babylon's invitation-only tableau ball and supper dance are held at the Marriott Hotel. Originally, the traditional tableau and ball had been staged at the Municipal Auditorium until 2005, when this facility sustained extensive hurricane damage, prompting the organization to move the ball to an alternate venue.
The Knights of Babylon are one of the few krewes left that utilize the traditional hand-held flambeaux to light the parade route on foot.
Babylon has always received the highest praise for adhering faithfully to the most cherished Carnival traditions. Their floats have the same basic designs and dimensions that they did at the krewe's inception more than 75 years ago, and the King's Float is mule drawn. Additionally, in keeping with the tenets of a mystic krewe, the organization requires all riders to remain masked throughout the entire duration of our parade. Unlike many Carnival organizations that rent floats, the Knights of Babylon own all of their floats and the den that houses them.
Originally, Babylon's parade and attendant parade-day festivities were held on the Wednesday before Mardi Gras. The Krewe of Momus, which historically paraded on Thursday evening, stopped parading in 1992, and, as a result, in 1993, Babylon moved its parade and tableau ball to the Thursday immediately before Mardi Gras. Babylon is the first of the three uptown parades on this night, leading the way into the festivities of the weekend before Mardi Gras. The Knights of Babylon are proud to uphold the traditions of Carnival on this festive evening. As many locals say, “CARNIVAL BEGINS WHEN BABYLON ROLLS!"
The Knights of Babylon annually present a royal court including a King Sargon of Akkad, Sargon's Queen, Sargon's royal pages, the queen's royal pages, ladies in waiting, princesses, and royal maids. The identity of King Sargon is kept secret and is never revealed.
Trinkets, collectables, masks, and beads tossed by hand from riders of the floats are called throws. Collectible throws from the Knights of Babylon include the light up necklaces, light up jester beads, light up streetcar necklace, and jester hats. [3]
Mardi Gras refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", reflecting the practice of the last night of eating rich, fatty foods before the ritual Lenten sacrifices and fasting of the Lenten season.
The Mistick Krewe of Comus, founded in 1856, is the oldest, continuous, New Orleans, Louisiana, Carnival Krewe having paraded with few interruptions from 1856 to 1991, while continuing to hold a tableau ball for its members and guests to date.
Rex is a New Orleans Carnival Krewe which stages one of the city's most celebrated parades on Mardi Gras Day. Rex is Latin for "King", and Rex reigns as "The King of Carnival".
The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in southern Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, but the season actually begins on King's Day, January 6, and extends until midnight before Ash Wednesday. Club, or Krewe, balls start soon after, though most are extremely private, with their Kings and Queens coming from wealthy old families and their courts consisting of the season's debutantes. Most of the high society Krewes do not stage parades. As Fat Tuesday gets nearer, the parades start in earnest. Usually there is one major parade each day ; many days have several large parades. The largest and most elaborate parades take place the last five days of the Mardi Gras season. In the final week, many events occur throughout New Orleans and surrounding communities, including parades and balls.
The Krewe of Endymion is a New Orleans Mardi Gras super krewe and social organization.
Krewe of Tucks is a New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe.
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Mardi Gras in the United States is not observed nationally across the country, largely due to the country's Protestant and Anglo-Saxon roots. Mardi Gras and Carnival are mostly Catholic holidays, while the United States has a Protestant-majority population. However, a number of cities and regions in the U.S. have notable Mardi Gras or Carnival celebrations. Most of these places trace their Mardi Gras celebrations to French, Spanish, and other Catholic colonial influences on the settlements over their history. The earliest Carnival celebration in North America occurred at a place on the west bank of the Mississippi River about 60 miles (97 km) downriver from where New Orleans is today; this Mardi Gras on March 3, 1699, and in honor of this holiday, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, a 38-year-old French Canadian, named the spot Point du Mardi Gras near Fort Jackson. The earliest organized Carnival celebrations occurred in Mobile, then the capitol of French Louisiana known as Fort Louis de la Mobile, where in 1704 the first known Carnival secret society. In 1856, six Mobile natives established the first secret society, or krewe, in New Orleans, the Mistick Krewe of Comus. Former French and Spanish colonies such as Pensacola, Biloxi, and settlements along the Gulf Coast all followed suit in incorporating Carnival into their annual celebrations, which today have developed either separate traditions or variations of them from one another. In addition, modern activities generally vary from city to city across the U.S.
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The Knights of Momus ("KoM") was founded in 1872 and was the second-oldest parading Old Line Krewe in New Orleans Carnival after the Mistick Krewe of Comus and is the third oldest krewe to continuously present a tableau ball, after the Twelfth Night Revelers in 1870.
The Krewe of Cleopatra is a New Orleans Mardi Gras Super Krewes and social organization.
Knights of Chaos is an all-male New Orleans Carnival Krewe and rumored facade for the Knights of Momus.
Krewe of Okeanos is a New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe.
Krewe of King Arthur is a coed New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe.
Henri Schindler is a New Orleans Mardi Gras historian and float designer.
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