‘Yardi-Gras’ bringing Mardi Gras festivities to Twin Cities during COVID-19 pandemic

Families across the country, including several in the Twin Cities, are celebrating Mardi Gras by participating in ‘Yardi Gras.’

When the major parades in New Orleans got canceled due to COVID-19, people decided to decorate their homes to look like parade floats.

Now thousands of people across the country have taken part in this effort, in the hopes of keeping the spirit of Fat Tuesday alive during the pandemic.

"It’s been a very pleasant surprise how much excitement it’s brought," said Roxanne Sanchez in St. Paul.

Sanchez moved back home to Minnesota from New Orleans just two weeks ago and was eager to participate in ‘Yardi Gras.’

"Even though I’m a Minnesotan, I’m definitely a New Orleanian, being there for eight years. So when you leave, you kind of leave a piece of your heart there too," Sanchez said. "That was the thing I was most upset about leaving New Orleans was missing Mardi Gras, so now I don’t have to miss it!"

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Sanchez said each neighborhood in New Orleans decorated their ‘house floats’ around a theme. The theme of her former neighborhood was ‘Nesting in Place,’ so she decided to do something similar at her new home on Mound Street in St. Paul. She calls her house float design ‘Flew the Coop,’ which she says is fitting since she just left New Orleans.

Doc Grauberger, who designs theatrical sets in the Twin Cities, spent two weeks creating the ‘Yardi Gras’ setup at the Sanchez home.
"I am one of just thousands of live theater entertainment professionals who have been sidelined almost a year now, so being able to do something creative like this, it shares hope that we’re going to be able to entertain people again someday," Grauberger said.

The Mardi Gras festivities at the Sanchez home will run from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday and will include music, beads and king cakes for sale on-site from Ingrid Lime’s Bakery.

Sanchez is also collecting donations of canned goods for Neighbors Inc., a Dakota County food shelf, and raising money for Springboard for the Arts, which has an emergency fund for local artists suffering job loss due to COVID-19.

"Krewe of Houses is a driving force of giving back to the community," Sanchez said. "New Orleans being a gig economy driven by artists, I wanted to keep that alive here as well."

For more on the Krewe of Houses Yardi Gras effort, click the link here.