Aspen Snowmass Events-Mardi Gras Festival

January 25, 2008

Mardi Gras in Aspen Snowmass Colorado While it may seem peculiar for an out of this world Mardi Gras celebration to be celebrated in snowy Colorado, but there is a resort town called Snowmass Village that is known for hosting one of the oldest Mardi Gras festivals in all of the Rocky Mountains. On February 5 of this year, the Snowmass Village will become what is referred to as the “Biggest Show on Snow”, marking its twenty-sixth annual Mardi gras fete. This Fat Tuesday celebration has become one of the most popular events in the entire winter season for the Snowmass village.
“Snowmass has become the ultimate mountain destination for the Mardi Gras,” according to Susan Hamley, who is the marketing director for Snowmass Village, “We are working very hard to honor the original visitors from New Orleans who brought this time honored tradition to us more than a quarter century ago.”

This authentic celebration, which traditionally lasts from dawn until the wee hours, originally began on an unofficial level in 1980, by natives of New Orleans who were looking for an alternative to the celebration they were used to in their home town. This celebration eventually became an official event two years later in 1982. Today a large amount of New Orleans residents are lured to Snowmass Village, with crowds reaching more than 5,000 annually.

The Snowmass Village Mardi Gras celebration is kicked off by the Mother of All Ascensions Uphill Race, which has been going strong for sixteen years now. This is a costumed dash up o 2,000 feet in elevation, which begins at 7:00 am and finishes up with more than $15,000 worth of prizes for a number of category wins, including best costume, worst costume, best time and worst time. Restaurants in the local area get in to the purple, gold and green spirit around noon time, offering special Cajun style cuisine, specials on drinks, and crawdad boils as well.

This unique Mardi Gras celebration continues on with a number of other traditional elements, including an enormous King Cake that is offered on the Mall, and a kids Carnival that offers face painters, walkers on stilts and a lot more. There is also a traditional bead throw, tossing more than 30,000 beads and prizes out to the crowds. At 4:00 pm the Snowmass Village Mardi Gras festival introduces the craziest and most wild parade in all of the mountains follows, packing the Mall in Snowmass Village with floats, revelers, kings, queens, jesters, the El Jebel Shriner Pipe and Drum band, jugglers, the Basalt Dance Troup, jokers and fools strutting through the mall wall to wall in their own unique “big top” style. Those with the best costumes, the best theme uses and the best floats can win cash prizes totaling $800 dollars.

Once the parade has ended, the festivities are moved indoors to a number of different hot spots throughout the village, including Mountain Dragon, Zane’s Tavern, Big Hoss Grille and the Cirque, all of which celebrate through the use of live music, Mardi Gras-style giveaway events, and food and drink specials honoring Fat Tuesday.

Aspen-Snowmass Mardi Gras Schedule of Events

Written by debbie · Filed Under Events

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