Mardi Gras in New Orleans (30 images)

Spectators reach for beads and other trinkets being thrown from the Zulu parade on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans on Mardi Gras, February 16, 2010. Zulu, a traditionally African-American Carnival organization has been parading for over a hundred years. UPI/A.J. Sisco

Members of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club hold up two of the clubs signature coconuts as their parade rolls down St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans on Mardi Gras, February 16, 2010. Zulu, a traditionally African-American Carnival organization has been parading for over a hundred years. UPI/A.J. Sisco

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay throws beads to parade goers from a float during the St. Louis Mardi Gras Parade in St. Louis on February 13, 2010. The parade is billed as the second largest in the United States. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

Bearing signs mocking the actors in various recent local political scandals, a float in the King Arthur parade rolls down St. Charles Avenue as Carnival gets under way in New Orleans February 7, 2010. The parade season culminates on Mardi Gras, which is February 16 this year. UPI / A.J. Sisco