Troy Carter

WASHINGTON – Most D.C. residents wouldn’t understand the meanings behind purple, green and gold Mardi Gras colors.

But they like parades.

U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, who was king of the Krewe of Pyros’ Inaugural Mardi Gras Parade on Aug. 8, was aware of the differences between Washington in the summer and New Orleans in the winter. He wore a loose-fitting casual shirt rather than elaborate royal garb.

He tossed beads as the parade wound through the streets of the city's Chinatown in temperatures approaching 100-degrees.

“We brought the beauty of New Orleans to Washington, D.C. — even the Louisiana heat," said Carter, D-New Orleans. said. "The beauty, the sound, and the culture of our people are loved around the world, including in the nation’s capital.”

A band from Crossland High School, located near Joint Base Andrews in suburban Maryland, marched. New Orleans rapper Mannie Fresh was the DJ when the parade concluded with a party in a Chinatown park.

Evidently, Washington hasn’t figured out the Mardi Gras Math: Take when the Paschal Full Moon occurs between March 22 and April 25, which is when Easter happens. Back that up 40 days for Mardi Gras’s bacchanalian blow out to prepare for the austere discipline of Lent.

August figures into none of those calculations – other than as an excuse for a party.

Actually, the parade was supposed to go off months ago during the Washington Mardi Gras, where business and charity leaders join state and local elected officials for a weeklong retreat. But a huge snow storm crippled the city, causing the cancellation and postponement of a number of events.

Carter’s cousin, J.C. Walker, is a founder of the Krewe of Pyros.

Walker and his wife are part of the Katrina diaspora that moved to Washington back in 2005. Founded in 2016, partially to address homesickness, the krewe mostly raises money for educational programs, such as, scholarships to Washington students studying in Louisiana and Louisiana students attending college in Washington.