Krewe of Proteus Parade

Proteus was a beautiful parade. I really liked all of the floats, and the riders did interact well with the audience. This is the first parade on the Uptown route on Lundi Gras (the day before Mardi Gras, a Monday). The antique flambeus (generally men carrying flames lit by gas) were lovely. Supposedly if you can throw a quarter in to the cup by the flames, you will get good luck, but I wonder who that luck is for as it is not really a cup, but a holder for the fuel for the flames. This is my first time watching this parade and it will not be my last time. It was well worth the effort.
Now time for a bit of history.
In Greek mythology, Proteus is an early sea-​god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the «Old Man of the Sea». Some who ascribe to him a specific domain call him the god of «elusive sea change», which suggests the constantly changing nature of the sea or the liquid quality of water in general. He can foretell the future, but, in a mytheme familiar to several cultures, will change his shape to avoid having to; he will answer only to someone who is capable of capturing the beast. From this feature of Proteus comes the adjective protean, with the general meaning of «versatile», «mutable», «capable of assuming many forms». «Protean» has positive connotations of flexibility, versatility and adaptability.

We watched this parade at the corner of Napoleon Ave and St Charles. It was a good parade but I noticed a lacking of throws. Proteus is the opening act for the glamorous Orpheus. It was supposed to rain but it didn’t early on in the route maybe they were waiting to off load throws towards the end of the route.

Proteus… I ended up catching Proteus this year because silly Metairie krewes Zeus & Hera got scared of a little rain and cancelled. My kid wanted Lundi Gras, dangit.
It was a little drizzly, but good enough weather for a parade.
Proteus was super generous with throws for those of us who attended, despite the rain forecast. My daughter ended up with 1.5 bags full of stuff — including a ton of stuffed animals — from just this one parade.
They have beautiful floats and it’s a great family parade.

Today is a little day at LOC we like to call Freaky Freaking-​Out Day. We are literally shaking in our rain boots due to the fact that we couldn’t be more excited that we’re six hours away from embarking on a celebration that won’t end until Wednesday morning. Seriously. Freaking-​Out.
But right now isn’t about us. It’s about you.
It’s parade time.
So, you’ve got your purple, green and gold on. You’ve got the ice chest packed. You’ve already picked up the Popeye’s family pack. Now comes the biggest decision of all: Which parade should I go see?
While all the parades are worth a watch, not all krewes were created equal. The not so humble opinions of our Carnival vets’ mixed in with the fresh-​eyed opinions of our newer New Orleanians has resulted in a list of the 10 best parades that’ll roll in the next six days.
Take notice that all these parades roll through uptown (although they all start, end and wind through the city on their own routes). Therefore, if you don’t plan on tracking each parade individually, plan on setting up shop on St. Charles between Louisiana and Napoleon to catch them all.
(Due to space limitations, Unilocal wouldn’t let us post the all 10 descriptions of our top 10 so only the article + 1 description of each top ten parade is posted under its respective review page. Also we know we have a 1 – 10 ranking system, but we’re giving them all 5 stars. Because anything Mardi Gras related receives 5 stars, regardless.)
10) Proteus — (Monday, 5:15pm) The second oldest parade in the city, the Krewe of Proteus is the opening band for Orpheus’ main performance. Playing off the look and feel of Carnival how it was a century ago, it raises your BMGC (Blood/​Mardi-​Gras Content) to the needed level to achieve an intense Mardi Gras high. We appreciate Proteus’ focus on raising our BMGC levels so that we can spend the rest of the night raising our BAC (Blood/​Alcohol Content) levels. Don’t say that Mardi Gras doesn’t care.
9) Mid-​City — (Sunday, 11:45am)
8) Rex — (Tuesday, 10:00am)
7) Toth — (Sunday, 12:00pm)
6) d’Etat — (Friday 6:30pm)
5) Orpheus (Monday, 6pm)
4) Tucks (Sunday, 12pm)
3) Zulu (Tuesday, 8am)
2) Bacchus (Sunday, 5:15, Uptown)
1) Endymion (Saturday, 4:15pm)
«Laissez les bon temps rouler»
— The Freaky Freaking LOCers

Proteus was the best of the five parades I attended. There were LOTS of throws; don’t know where other reviewers complaining about throws were stationed, but we were in the middle of Canal and experienced plentiful throws of beads and other items. Floats were incredible. The entire experience made Mardi Gras so much more than the drunk-​fest on Bourbon Street.

This was a beautiful parade with a lot of great throws. Really generous to kids and a really good time.

Never have I seen a krewe so stingy when throwing beads. The entire block of Julia and St. Charles felt neglected. Sure, the floats are nice, but this entire parade is put to shame by Orpheus that follows.

Proteus was beautiful this year, as always. The theme was obscure mythology and the interpretation was whimsical. I love the use of the antique flambeaus. The wagon wheels cause the floats to lurch and move in such a different way from modern tires. Also, points for uniformity of throws, no purple, green & gold allowed. Everything was red, white or silver. Classy.

This is the most beautiful parade in all of Carnival. Period. Take it easy on Lundi Gras, what Proteus pass and amaze in the beauty while you recover from the weekend and prepare for Mardi Gras