Family Gras
Feb. 6-7
Metairie
Family Gras brings a music festival, parade watching and more to Veterans Memorial Boulevard across from Lakeside Shopping Center. The festival takes place Friday, Feb. 6, when Excalibur parades, and Saturday, Feb. 7, when the Magical Krewe of MadHatters rolls.
The Friday night music lineup is topped by Herman’s Hermits featuring Peter Noone. The 1960s British pop band is still led by Noone, its original singer, and has other original members as well. Friday also features country singer Karen Waldrup, who was a finalist on NBC’s singing competition “The Voice.” Tom Petty tribute band Heartbreakers Jukebox rounds out the night.
Saturday is headlined by 1990s alt rock band the Gin Blossoms and Lady A, the Nashville band formerly known as Lady Antebellum. Also performing are Elton John tribute band The Rocketmen, Uncle Kracker, the longtime Kid Rock turntablist Matthew Shafer, and local family-friendly group The Imagination Movers. Bands perform throughout the day, and there’s a break while parades pass the festival grounds.
Family Gras also has a kids area with face painting, games and activities. The art market has a variety of vendors and many offer Carnival costume accessories. There also are 10 food vendors offering barbecue, tacos, Cajun and Creole dishes and more.
Family Gras is free, but VIP passes offer front-of-the-stage viewing areas, backstage access and limited food and drinks.
Veterans Memorial Boulevard at the festival grounds is closed to traffic during Family Gras hours. Gates open at 3 p.m. Friday, and music starts at 4 p.m. On Saturday, gates open at 9 a.m. and the music begins at 11 a.m.
For more information, go to familygras.com.
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Learn more about the themes and throws of Carnival parades taking place Feb. 6-8.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source bestofneworleans.com ’
