If you have a chance to attend next year’s Cowboy Mardi Gras Parade in Bandera, Texas, I recommend that you go.
Last Saturday’s parade was not like any other I’ve attended in the past but it was very fun to watch. As I mentioned previously, my niece was riding a donkey and that was what drove me to attend.
Bandera’s main street was blocked off for the hour-long procession and people were lined up for almost a mile. There were no elaborate floats like those in other Mardi Gras parades, but instead, there were cars, motorcycles, 18-wheelers, horses, donkeys, camels, mules, longhorns, and decorated golf carts and four wheelers. There were numerous pickup trucks pulling flatbed trailers and an occasional bus. There were no marching bands and no drill teams, but music blared from some of the “floats.”
I watched the parade from the middle of the route, joined by two older women, a working police officer, and a young woman from out-of-town who was there to support her sister and brother who were riding mules. The two older women fought aggressively for every bead thrown, grabbing them mid-air, not giving the rest of us much of a chance. They knew many of the parade participants, giving them an unfair advantage! I managed to get a “few.”
Unlike at big city parades, I saw only one street vendor – and he was selling hot dogs from a push-cart. The shops sold t-shirts and caps commemorating the occasion. (There was, however, a family in a parking lot giving away puppies – for free. My brother wanted to take one home but his wife wasn’t in agreement about it. But if the puppy owners had been more insistent, he would have.)
The Bandera parade was a family-friendly event. Naturally, there were some adults who had begun drinking early in the day but I saw no rowdy activity and the area was well patrolled (it was noon after all). The kids had a great time catching beads and eating candy passed out by clowns walking the route. And quite a few adults and children showed up in costumes to help celebrate.
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