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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

Mardi Gras Bloomington style

This year, if you to party Mardi Gras-style, the place to be is the Bluebird.

Students who want to catch beads and party the night away on Fat Tuesday don't need to travel to New Orleans because they can enjoy Mardi Gras right here in Bloomington. Local bars will host live bands, change their menus and hold special promotions for the celebration.\nAdding to the festivities, a Bloomington-based Mardi Gras crew known as "The Monkeyheads Social Aide & Pleasure Club" has organized a parade that will start at 8 p.m. Feb. 20 and will be followed by a concert.\nThe Monkeyheads claim that Bloomington is home to the "third-greatest Mardi Gras on the face of the Earth." Monkeyheads founder Joe "Crazy Jose the Pathfinder" Estivill said people can argue over what city hosts the first-and second-greatest Mardi Gras all day, but Bloomington has the No. 3 spot. \n"We know it's a bunch of crap, but that's what we like to say," Estivill said.\nThe parade will begin at Fourth and Walnut streets and end at the Bluebird, according to a press release Estivill issued. Monkeyheads member Vicky Kilmer said people don't have to dress up to march in the parade, but she encourages everyone to wear silly costumes. The more creative the costume, the better, Kilmer said. Plus, the person with the best costume wins $50, according to the release. \n"I would love it if all kinds of people showed up," Kilmer said, "dressed up or not."\nKilmer said the group got a parade permit allowing it to block off streets along the parade route. A police escort will also be provided for the parade.\nEvery year, some members of the group go to New Orleans a week or two before Fat Tuesday and bring back beads to distribute during their parade, Kilmer said. \n"Our signature thing is that we have strands of beads with little monkey heads on them," Kilmer said.\nThe theme for this year's celebration is "Human See, Human Do." As is tradition, the theme was chosen by last year's Mardi Gras king and queen, the self-named "King Caesar Simian the Great" and "Queen Too-Funny." After the parade, a new king and queen will be chosen at the Bluebird.\nMardi Gras kings and queens are chosen using a king and queen cake, Estivill said. A miniature plastic baby is hidden inside each cake, and whoever finds the baby in their piece of cake becomes Mardi Gras royalty until the next year. The winners also choose their own names.\nThe crew is charging a dollar for a piece of cake and a chance to be crowned the next Mardi Gras king or queen, Estivill said. The money is normally given away as part of the crew's "social aide." In the past the money has been given to WFHB, a local community radio station.\nWFHB helped the Monkeyheads get started when the group was formed seven or eight years ago, Estivill said. For the last 15 years, another Mardi Gras crew, known as the Wild Raccoons, has been celebrating Fat Tuesday with WFHB. Now, the Monkeyheads are taking over.\n"They had a pre-party there before their show," Estivill said. "Eventually I was showing up with 30 or 40 drunk friends before the party at the Bluebird even started."\nAfter traveling to New Orleans to learn about Mardi Gras traditions like members of the Wild Raccoons had done, Estivill started another crew in Bloomington to help the Wild Raccoons.\n"This is the first year the Monkeyheads have stepped up to do the party at the Bluebird," Estivill said. \nThe Wild Raccoons are taking a year off.\nEstivill's crew will still be collaborating with WFHB for this year's celebration.\n"Their members have been invited to march as part of a boom box parade," Estivill said.\nSome of the people marching in the parade will bring their boom boxes and tune them to WFHB. The radio station will be playing parade style music that originated in New Orleans, Estivill said.\nOnce the parade makes its way back to the Bluebird, live music from local bands will begin at 9 p.m. with the "traditional Dixieland sounds" of the B-Town Bearcats, according to a press release. They will be followed by the Swamp Hogs, who play a style called Cajun/Zydeco, which is a form of fiddle and accordion music, Estivill said. The Tone-o-Matics, a blues band, will also perform. Cover is $8.\nOther local bars will also be holding special festivities for Fat Tuesday. Kilroy's on Kirkwood will host a special Bacardi promotion, said general manager David Prall. The promotion will include special cups for Bacardi Hurricanes and female models from Bacardi. A bar crawl that begins at Kilroy's on Kirkwood and ends at Kilroy's Sports Bar will also be part of the promotion.\nThe cover charge at Sports will be $3, said manager Ben Kelner. DJ Unique will be downstairs and DJ Kenny Kixx will be upstairs. Specials include $2 Rolling Rock beers and $2 Southern Comfort shooters.\n"Southern Comfort girls will be here doing giveaways and throwing beads," Kelner said.\nAcross the road, Scotty's will be doing "a big Fat Tuesday party," said bar manager Chris Johnson. The menu will be switched around to include lobster bisque, jambalaya, gumbo and crab cakes. Abita Turbodog, a beer brewed just outside New Orleans, will also be available, Johnson said. There will also be special music playing and the atmosphere will be livelier.\n"We encourage people to drink and have a good time," Johnson said.

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