Make plans now to join your friends and neighbors in downtown Wake Forest Saturday, March 2, for the Seventh Annual Wake Forest Mardi Gras Street Festival. Presented by Thomas G. Walters Allstate Insurance and Primrose School of Heritage Wake Forest, this family-friendly celebration is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and admission is free.
Promising fun-filled activities for both children and adults, the Mardi Gras Street Festival will include face painters, strolling entertainers, live music, an inflatable playground, special contests and much more.
One of the day’s highlights promises to be the Mardi Gras Walking Parade. The lineup will begin at 12:45 p.m. in Town Hall’s Centennial Plaza at 301 Brooks Street, and the parade gets underway at 1 p.m. The parade route will extend from Town Hall, up East Owen Avenue, and north along South White Street before ending at the Depot Parking Lot, 110 South White Street.
The walking parade is open to both children and adults. No pre-registration is required; however, all children must be accompanied by an adult or guardian. Youngsters are invited to walk, roller skate, ride their bicycles or be pulled along in a wagon. Participation is free, but bicyclists must wear their helmets.
Parade participants are encouraged to flex their creative muscles by decorating their bicycles and wagons, dressing up in their best Mardi Gras garb and wearing a mask. Awards will be presented for Best Decorated Wagon, Cart, Bicycle or Stroller, Best Baby and Most Festive Family.
Free face painting will be offered in the Town Hall lobby from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and along South White Street near the Depot Parking Lot from 1 to 3 p.m.
Teenagers and adults are invited to participate in the King & Queen Costume Contest before the start of the walking parade. The costume judging will take place at noon near the Centennial Plaza flagpoles. The winners will serve as the parade’s grand marshals and lead the procession.
Younger participants are also invited to dress up and take part in their very own Parade Prince & Princess Costume Contest.
But that’s not all.
The always popular Bubblegum Blowing Contest will take place at 2 p.m. in Jones Plaza, located at the corner of South White Street and Jones Avenue.
Food and refreshments will be available for purchase at several downtown restaurants during Mardi Gras, and a variety of food and dessert trucks will also be on site.
Volunteers are needed on the day of the event for a variety of roles. To sign up or obtain more information, visit www.wakeforestnc.gov/mardi-gras-volunteers.aspx<http://www.wakeforestnc.gov/mardi-gras-volunteers.aspx>.
The following local businesses have generously contributed to the 2019 Wake Forest Mardi Gras Festival: Thomas G. Walters Allstate Insurance and Primrose School of Heritage Wake Forest are the presenting sponsors. Other sponsors include Champion Windows, Sunrooms & Home Exteriors, Orangetheory Fitness Wake Forest, All American Gutter Protection, Vision Martial Arts, Stanley Martin Homes, LeafFilter Gutter Protection, Triangle Family Dentistry, Ting Internet, MedFirst Primary & Urgent Care, T-Mobile, The Lost Cajun, Oberwise Dairy and ARTS Wake Forest. For more information, contact Marketing & Business Relations Specialist Anna Bolton at abolton@wakeforestnc.gov<mailto:abolton@wakeforestnc.gov>.
The Mardi Gras Street Festival is the perfect occasion to stroll South White Street, shop for that one-of-a-kind gift, dine in one of our distinctive restaurants and socialize with friends and neighbors. For more information on this one-of-a-kind celebration, visit wakeforestnc.gov and search “Mardi Gras” or contact Downtown Development Program Assistant Jennifer Herbert at 919-435-9427 or jherbert@wakeforestnc.gov<mailto:jherbert@wakeforestnc.gov>.
